The Mother-Wound
by Iman L. Merkaba
Summary: Ch. 5. When they realized the impossible was possible, Emmett and Rosalie decide that perhaps their happily ever after isn't as out of reach as it once seemed. They would sacrifice anything to have their forever family – including a few innocent humans. A dark and speculative tale exploring the impact Nessie's birth and the Volturi's pardon could have had. Post-Breaking Dawn.
1. Part the First: The Edge of Desire

**The Mother-Wound**

 **Title** : The Mother-Wound  
 **Genre** : Romance/Horror  
 **Rating** : T  
 **Pairings** : Rosalie/Emmett, all canon pairings  
 **Warnings** : stalking, gore, non-con, character death  
 **Summary** : Post-Breaking Dawn. When they realized the impossible was possible, Emmett and Rosalie decide that perhaps their happily ever after isn't as out of reach as it once seemed. They would sacrifice anything to have their forever family – including a few innocent humans. A short story exploring a darker impact that Nessie's birth and the Volturi's pardon could have had.

* * *

 **Part the First** : The Edge of Desire

" _I got luckier than I deserved. Emmett is everything I would have asked for, if I'd known myself well enough to know what to ask for. He's exactly the kind of person someone like me needs. And, oddly enough, he needs me, too. That part worked out better than I could have hoped. But there will never be more than the two of us. And, I'll never sit on a porch somewhere, with him gray-haired by my side, surrounded by our grandchildren."_ – "Unhappy Ending", Eclipse, pg. 96-97

* * *

 **December 2006  
Sol Duc River  
Clallam County, Washington State**

"There is talk coming from Volterra about amending the Law as it pertains to immortal children."

Rosalie opened her amber-gold eyes abruptly, her eyes seeking out the familiar voice that had spoken the words she'd never imagined she'd hear in her eternal existence. From her perch in the massive evergreen tree in the backyard, she could see so much of their land, overflowing and rich with the verdant green flora they loved so much about the Pacific Northwest. Her gaze was sharper than an eagle as she searched for where the conversation was taking place –

And there, on the opposite bank of the Sol Duc River that lazily curled through their backyard, Eleazar and Carlisle stood together, joined within seconds by Esme.

Clearly, the group had returned from hunting and seemed to be about to join the rest of the coven inside the house. But, Eleazar's abrupt announcement brought them pause and they stood together seriously.

"An amendment of the Law – so soon?" questioned Carlisle, both thoughtful and worried. "I've never known the Volturi to be so swift in their stewardship of the Law. This is – _interesting_."

Eleazar nodded. "Indeed, old friend. It has been but two weeks since they've been gone from here, and I was under the impression that while they had ruled that the hybrids were no immediate threat, there had yet to be a formal ruling on the existence of hybrid vampires. Or, is it the existence of hybrid humans?"

Esme sighed heavily, and it sounded more than a little pinched. "And that's exactly why a formal ruling should take longer than two weeks. It has only been three months since Renesmee has been born, and we still have little idea of who and what she truly is. Whoever this Joham character is, Nahuel's father – we have no idea how extensively he has studied these children, what their full capabilities are, or what the intersection between human and vampire genetics _really_ entails. Nobody can locate him and if Nahuel knows, he isn't being very forthcoming. There's no telling what he knows or what he can share with us about hybrids – and it's worrying to know that the Volturi appears to be making a formal ruling and we don't know what information they're basing this ruling upon."

"Much agreed, my Adored," Carlisle declared. There was no mistaking the hard edge of frustration in his voice, as he continued, "I've been trying to get Edward and Bella to agree to an official study of Renesmee, with you and I as the only researchers, Eleazar. But, they're completely against the idea. Bella, especially, is opposed to the idea of us making Renesmee a test subject, as she puts it."

Eleazar scoffed. "You would think that she would want us to discover everything there is about a child nobody has ever encountered before!"

"To be entirely honest, I think the children only ever cared to know whether Nessie was immortal as we were." Esme said, not unkindly. "Nahuel has come and proven that Nessie will have the same eternal life as we do and for them, that's all the answers they need about their daughter."

There was a tense moment of silence and when several minutes passed in thoughtful silence, Rosalie found herself leaning forward on the tree branch impatiently. These were the conversations that her coven parents purposefully did not have around her or her coven siblings. There were plenty of times where they went to hunt by themselves, their deliberate moments of alone time teasingly being dubbed by their coven children as a date night – and, apparently, these were the critical discussions they had when they were not in the presence of any of their coven children.

It was a rare stroke of luck that she happened to be meditating in the tree tops, determined seek alone time while their home was more crowded with vampires than usual, and in a position to overhear the most crucial conversation she'd known them to be having in years.

"Carlisle, I don't think your children understand the paradigm shift they've created in our world. Nor do I feel they grasp the seriousness of being the creators of an anomaly that our kind scarcely knew was possible." Eleazar spoke in a low voice. "If they are going to protect their impossible hybrid, it is imperative that they _understand_ their daughter better than anyone, especially her potential and her abilities, and not just love her despite them."

Carlisle was quiet for a moment but did not disagree when he spoke again. "You and I share the same concerns, old friend. I'm deeply, deeply worried that they're in denial about this life that they ended up creating. Or, if not in denial, they don't quite understand the seriousness of this."

"Denial is more like it," Esme declared unhappily. "Bella is so new to this life, so freshly Turned and barely more than a child when was Turned, I don't think she has the first idea of what this means. But, Edward is nearly into his first century of this life. Edward _knows_ what the impossibility of Renesmee's birth means in our world, how rarely the core of our kind undergoes change, and how catastrophic that change can be for being so constant and eternal as we are. But, he refuses to accept that there are now very serious consequences of their decision to bring Nessie into this world. He refuses to face reality, and I'm beginning to be worried that when he does, it will be too late."

"It is _already_ too late!" Eleazar declared coldly. "You speak of your created-son and his newborn mate refusing to accept the consequences – what about the pair of you? Are you ready to accept the consequences of failing to be responsible? Are you willing to face the consequences of the confrontation that is barely two weeks behind us?"

Carlisle and Esme were silent. The forest surrounding them was coming to live as dawn continued to creep over the horizon and somehow, everything sounded twice as loud in the painful silence offered up by her coven parents. Rosalie couldn't help but feel a hot lick of anger towards their cousin, leaning forward with a scowl that she knew he could not see. Carlisle and Esme were not perfect and there had been plenty of mistakes, as their coven had grown and come together to be the unbreakable family that covens so rarely were able to be. But, they were the best coven parents she could have, the only parents she desired to be the daughter of in this unending life of theirs, and to hear Eleazar speak so harshly towards them rankled her.

Esme spoke first and the chastened undercurrent to her voice made Rosalie even more irritated with Eleazar.

"Edward fell in love with her, Eleazar." Esme said simply. "Edward, whom I feared would never have a mate because his Gift makes love as much of a curse as it is a blessing, fell in love with Bella and that was all that mattered to us for a while, I think. You don't know how painful it is to see your child so isolated and alone, despite knowing that he is more intimately connected to people than any of us could be. The happiness and the connection that Bella brings him was enough to make us forget the consequences of it – and, we'll accept responsibility of that, however bad it makes us look."

"Oh, you haven't even begun to understand how deeply you are responsible for these coming consequences, as Edward's Creator." Eleazar scoffed. There was an edge of darkness in his voice that was so at odds with the quiet, peaceful sunrise they were amid. "I assure you, by now, word of our confrontation has spread like wildfire through our kind. As we speak, there are vampires who are looking at their human prey with an entirely different perception – and, I'm afraid, old friend, it is not your advocated perception of humans as our fellows and not our food."

Carlisle looked at Eleazar sharply, his Midas-gold eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Word is sure to spread that the kings of Volterra do not judge hybrids to be a threat to our kind. As I said to start with, I have heard rumors from my friends who are apart of the Court of Volterra that this judgement may soon become a formal ruling, and thus an amendment to the Law." Eleazar didn't bother to hide the plain fear in his voice as he declared: "Carlisle, you went to great lengths to prove that human women are the perfect incubators for the seed of vampires. I'm almost positive that at this very moment, somewhere a vampire is seeking a human woman to test and prove the wild claim that we can procreate a brand-new race at will. And, further than that – sooner than later, certainly before there can be any formal amendment of the Law, we will see a wave of hybrid children being born from this knowledge and who know how many human women will be slaughtered because of this."

"Slaughtered?" Esme was alarmed. "Nonsense, no human woman needs to die from birthing a hybrid. We know the process of a human carrying a hybrid child and will not have the problems Bella experienced, because we know better now. Surely, human women won't have to be slaughtered like cattle if – if this does come to pass."

"But, they will be," Carlisle mumbled, numbly. "They will be disproportionately hunted and preyed upon, because of their abilities to carry hybrids. They will be slaughtered like cattle, because the vampire who is seeking to create a hybrid will likely not care to Turn the human before her hybrid is born. Human women will be targeted like they've never been before, and we're responsible for that. We're responsible for it because we made it so publicly known!"

Esme made a soft noise of anguish, the same anguish that was so clearly overwhelming Carlisle. " _Oh_. Oh, what have we done?"

"You weren't responsible, family, and your lack of responsibility quickly spun out of control," Eleazar said flatly. There was neither comfort nor condemnation in his words, only the facts. "There's nothing that can be done now that your created-son has so violently dragged immortality into an impossible intersection with humanity. Nothing except prepare for the coming lawlessness that always accompanies such a violent, abrupt shift of paradigm."

Rosalie wasn't the only one who was frozen with the shock of Eleazar's grim prediction – but, not for the same reasons as her coven parents.

The seed of an idea had taken root in her mind, dark and forbidden and in the exact spirit that Eleazar was warning against. A wild seed of an idea, which spoke to her deepest desire and created a spark of hope within her, despite the absolute taboo of it.

Human women could be incubators for vampire children. Vampires could father children on human women, who'd give birth to beings who were the perfect cross between humanity and inhumanity. Dhampir children didn't have the insatiable curse of being an eternally bloodthirsty predator – but neither would they be as fleeting and fragile as humans, who lived too briefly and could die so suddenly.

If Rosalie had breath in her immortal body, it would have been stolen from her chest, as the seed became roots and an impossible but potential future bloomed in her mind's eye.

She and Emmett could have _children_. Dhampir children who would be the humans they used be, while still being the vampires they were, and would forever more be. Dhampir children who would be born swiftly, grow like a lightning strike, and live as eternally as she and Emmett would as their parents. Dhampir children who were more enduring than humans but not as accursed as vampires. Dhampir children who would be children, pure and perfect and divine _babies_ , who would not be the accursed, mindless terrors that Turned children were.

Edward and Bella had their daughter, their eternal child who they would never have be separated from and who were equal parts of their love and devotion to one another – and Bella's humanity, her human womb, was what had gifted them with such an impossible miracle.

Rosalie leaned forward, a touch desperately, wanting to hear the remainder of the discussion, wanting to know everything possible about this unbelievable opportunity – but, in the few seconds that she'd been distracted with the impossibility of her thoughts, Eleazar and Carlisle and Esme had moved on. They must have finally gone inside, leaving her alone with the trees and the river, once more.

If it were for the perfect recall of their limitless mind, Rosalie would have thought she'd imagined the brief but intense discussion she'd overheard. But, their words were replaying in her mind like an unbroken record, and the more she turned over each word, the deeper her mind spiraled into the realm of the possible.

If she could get a human woman and if she could have Emmett agree to this forbidden plan, after all these decades of regret and loss, she would finally have the one thing she would easily give her soul in exchange for.

She would be a mother and she would be a mother for the rest of eternity.

* * *

( **Author's Note** : This story was born from a rereading of Breaking Dawn and the realization that if the Volturi pardoning the existence of dhampirs, what impact would that have on the future of the Twiverse? Especially in a world where the human-vampire hybrid doesn't seem to have been seen before, despite dhampirs being a part of vampire literature for centuries. So, this will be story will be a shoutout to classic vampire horror stories, with romance as the centering genre because The Twilight Saga itself is YA Romance.

I must make it clear that though it won't become evident for a few more chapters - this story is absolutely a horror story and if horror isn't your thing, you might not like the direction this story is heading in, starting in chapter four. I don't use chapter warnings because I feel they are backhanded spoilers, so just know that The Mother-Wound is a romantic horror and proceed accordingly.

I look forward to your thoughts and reviews. Next chapter is told from Emmett's POV and the POV will continue to alternate until the last chapter and Epilogue.)


	2. Part the Second: In the Blood

**Part the Second** : In the Blood

" _It's not like love at first sight, really. It's more like… gravity moves. When you see her, suddenly it's not the earth holding you here anymore. She does. And nothing matters more than her. And you would do anything for her, be anything for her… You become whatever she needs you to be, whether that's a protector, or a lover, or a friend, or a brother."_ – "Temper", Eclipse, pg. 101

* * *

 **March 2007  
Cabinet Mountains  
Kootenai National Forest, Western Montana**

"About five more minutes, hoss, and we'll be at the cabin." Jasper was not as fast as Emmett was, despite being lean and seemingly built for speed. But, his fierce, cheetah-like strides had him keeping pace with Emmett admirably, even still. "You wanted to talk in private and this is quite literally the most private place I can think of. Whatever yer burstin' to tell me – you can let it out in just a few minutes."

Emmett couldn't help but smiling as he felt a gossamer-soft sensation sweep over his granite skin and the bulk of the tension and fear was abruptly pulled from his body. Jasper used his Gift responsibly, when he felt it would help the recipient the most, when it seemed they were too overwhelmed for their own good – and Emmett appreciated the inherent respect that Jasper had for other's boundaries. It was a respect that Edward was sorely lacking, when it came to the use of his Gift of thought-seeing. Their coven brother had little respect for the privacy of another mind and it was this lack of respect which had him and Jasper thundering towards the Cabinet Mountains in the Kootenai Nation Forest – twelve hours and a thousand miles from their home on the Sol Duc River, twelve hours and a thousand miles away from where anyone would overhear them.

They arrived at Jasper's wilderness retreat in three minutes instead of the predicted five.

Emmett lingered outside in the thick snow, as Jasper made quick work of opening his cabin for their brief stay. The rustic cabin was constructed from logs, plainly built and without extra flair, and it was the simplicity of it that Emmett decided he liked the best. He gave his coven brother a grin as Jasper reappeared on the porch, holding two tankards of dark liquid in his wintry hands.

"I know elk isn't your favorite, but it was all that was left over from the last time Alice and I were here back in December." Jasper offered Emmett one of the tankards with a warm smile. "We'll finish this and see if we can find a couple of bears for breakfast, in a few hours."

Emmett accepted the tankard with thanks. Jasper motioned to the house, where he had turned on the lights and had a comforting but unnecessary fire burning in the hearth, but Emmett shook his head and declined. Mindful of the cup of blood he was holding, Emmett simply dropped to the ground where he stood, a cloud of snow flourishing up around him as he reclined back into a particularly high snow bank. Jasper snickered and joined him. For a while, the silence stretched on pleasantly and unhurried as they sipped on their elk blood.

Emmett was nearly down to his final swallows of elk, when finally spoke and broke the silence he'd been holding onto since they left Washington last night.

"I want to talk to you about something and I want it kept between the two of us."

Jasper snickered. "Obviously so, little brother. I reckon this little excursion to the wilderness of Montana isn't because you want others to be privy to what you've got to say."

Emmett smiled, but it was fleeting. Not wanting others to be privy to what he was about to share was an understatement. A gross misrepresentation of the great lengths he had gone to hide his unspeakable secret from those he loved the most. Especially his Rose. What had started as a wild, impulsive, impossible thought had swiftly morphed into a dark, forbidden secret, and even now, weeks later, Emmett was struggling with whether to finally reveal it or not. There was no end to the terrible consequences there would be, if this got out. He was risking everything, especially his own existence, by sharing his secret with the most volatile and the most unpredictable member of his coven.

But, Jasper was the only one who could tell him what he needed to know.

Jasper and Alice were the ones who had made it clear that the impossible birth of Nessie was not a rare anomaly that could never be attempted again. They had traveled far and wide to hunt down proof that hybrid children were not a threat to their immortal society and their proof had been all he needed to see for him to latch onto the possibility that his greatest wish could come true. Nahuel, the immortal creature who'd been born from a human womb after being fathered by a vampire's seed, was the proof that not all hope was lost and despite what they had believed was true – he and Rosalie _could_ have their family, they _could_ have children, and all that was needed was a human womb that was capable of holding onto an impossible pregnancy.

Emmett wasn't clear on exactly how much Jasper knew about hybrids – or, dhampirs, as it appeared their kind were called. But, that was the purpose of this excursion. Jasper knew something, he knew enough that he and Alice had been confident in standing before the kings of Volterra and defending their coven. Whatever Jasper knew, Emmett needed the same knowledge before me made another attempt at this impossible dream.

But, he wouldn't receive the knowledge he craved without exchanging his unforgivable secret first.

This was going to be a risk, a possible gamble that might not even be worth it and would force his hand into doing something terrible to be able to continue his pursuit of a hybrid child. But, for the possibility that he would gain knowledge that would lead to his success in future attempts, Emmett was willing to risk it all. After all, along with risk there was reward – and, if the risk paid off and lead to the reward of successfully creating a hybrid baby for he and Rosalie to have for all of eternity, Emmett knew he would do without question.

Emmett drained the remainder of the elk blood from his tankard and then began to speak, sharing for the first time the unspeakable crime he had committed and how it culminated in nothing but bitter failure.

"Right after the New Year, I told everyone that I needed time alone to clear my head after the confrontation with the Volturi – but, that was a lie." Emmett confessed quietly. "I didn't go to the cabin Rose and I have the Yukon to be alone with myself and my thoughts. I went to our family home, down in Hoquiam, because I had a human woman waiting for me and I sought to be alone with her."

Jasper became unnaturally still, all ease and good will absent from his face as he stared at Emmett with an unreadable expression. He seemed more deadly than usual, the lattice of thick, snarling scars that twisted the lower half of his face contrasting harshly with the warm, inviting marigold-yellow brightness of his eyes. He titled his head slightly, a gesture that would suggest curiosity – if it didn't suddenly make him seem more like a viper waiting to strike than a vampire.

"You lied to our coven and to your wife, so that you could run off with a human woman." Jasper's voice was colder than the snowfall around him and his eyes burned as he pierced Emmett with a vicious glare. "Why?"

Emmett fidgeted under the raw intensity of Jasper's eyes, knowing what assumption the older vampire had about where this confession was going. But, what Jasper was assuming was unthinkable. Rosalie was the center of his entire universe, the seat of his soul, and the concept of wanting or desiring someone who was not her simply didn't make rational sense. There was no being on any inch of the Earth that could compare or outshine his eternal wife, his Adored – and to suggest that he would betray Rosalie for a moment of passion with a human was deeply absurd.

"I wanted to be alone with her because I wanted to see if I could have my way with her without killin' her. I wanted to have my way with her without killin' her, because I wanted to get a hybrid in her and make her have a baby that I could give to Rose – so that we could finally, finally have the family we always wanted."

Emmett had considered coming up with a speech, a well-thought explanation that would make what he had done seem harmless or unremarkable. But, the words just came from him without warning, sounding far more simple and straightforward than it had been. Jasper made a low noise of understanding and comprehension, his burning anger on behalf of his coven sister draining away abruptly as Emmett's words began to sink in.

"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised," Jasper offered, after a strained silence in which he'd visibly been struggling to come up with a response to Emmett's blunt and shocking confession. "I figured that someone would get the bright idea sooner than later – but, I didn't think that _you_ had it in you to do something like _this_ , little brother."

Emmett looked at Jasper evenly, his voice serious as the grave as he replied, "Rose and I want a baby more than anything, Jas. I reckon we want a baby more than we want to be human again, and you know how we'd give our souls in a split-second for _that_ to become a reality. I may not have had something like this in me, before I knew that children were a possibility for us, but now that I do know? There is nothing I wouldn't do to be able to give this kind of happiness to Rose. _Nothing_."

Jasper nodded in grim understanding, knowing the depth of devotion to an Adored rendered any obstacle to their happiness obsolete. There were unspeakable things that Jasper had done in honor of his devotion to Alice, Emmett knew – but, he didn't know if Jasper had ever crossed this line. The line that their coven parents had labored tirelessly to ensure that their entire coven honored and respected, the line that Emmett had sworn to never intentionally cross because humans were their fellows, not their food.

"So, you brought the human to Hoquiam, you forced yourself on her, and she survived the encounter without too much damage, if I'm understanding this correctly so far." Jasper spoke with neither condemnation nor acceptance, but a straightforward recall of the information shared so far. When Emmett grimaced and nodded, uncomfortable with the harsh truth of it all, Jasper continued: "I get the feeling you said all of that as a segue into what you really want to talk about. Emmett, what happened after that? What did you do?"

Emmett looked sightlessly into the increasingly heavier snowfall, not wanting to meet his coven brother's gaze and not wanting to see whatever reaction Jasper had to what he shared next.

"I waited a few days until I smelled that she was fertile. She was so addicted to my venom after a couple of days, she didn't even care when I told what I wanted her for and what I was about to do. All she cared about was getting more venom and if that's what it took to keep her quiet and obedient, I reckon that was a very small price to pay compared to what I was prepared to do to make this go smoothly." Emmett ignored the swell of venom in his mouth as his mind recalled with perfect clarity the memory of how he'd kept the girl drugged and compliant with nothing more than his mouth. "I got her in the family way fairly easily and everything was fine for the first two or three weeks."

"And after that?"

"I don't understand what went wrong. I don't understand why it didn't work, Jas." Emmett said emptily, his mouth pinched with blatant unhappiness. "She was healthy and fertile, and she didn't even get as sickly as Bella did with Nessie. I gave her whatever she wanted, as soon as she asked for it. I gave her so much venom I'm surprised she didn't Turn right then and there. When she wanted blood, I got it for her – fresh, human blood, as much of as she wanted, and I went as far as Colorado to get it. I got her human food, as much of that as she needed, too. Everything was fine, and then…"

Emmett couldn't help his flinch, as his mind forcibly pulled up the memory that accompanied his words. The girl had been a slender, willowy human, her frame almost skeletal under the strain of incubating the seed of a vampire. But, she had been stubborn and determined to give birth to her impossible child, overexposure to venom addling her mind enough that she couldn't be afraid for herself despite every indication she should be. He remembered clearly how her swollen belly had lurched and rippled with the vigorous movements of the hybrid, how he had been in awe and beginning to feel the first stirrings of attachment at the sight of his child roiling under her skin –

And then, a sickening crack had interrupted her mindless cooing, a scream replacing the soft, motherly sounds of affection as she bent backwards an unnatural angle and a spurt of blood came from the garish wound across her belly.

"I reckon it tried to birth itself too soon and maybe that's where it went wrong." Emmett shuddered as he recalled how tiny and fragile the creature had seemed as it chewed its way through the thick, impenetrable womb it had created upon its conception and burrowed its way out of its slaughtered mother. "I didn't want to interfere in the process, whatever the process was. I hadn't been there when Nessie was born, and Rose never wanted to talk about that night to give me any detail. I really didn't know if this was how it was supposed to go or if there was something I could do to help her, so I just let it happen. But, maybe I should have done something sooner…"

"Well, what did you do, when you finally did something?" Jasper prompted. He hadn't been there when Nessie was born, either, and this description of a hybrid birth was clearly as riveting as it was disturbing to him.

"Everything that I could think of," Emmett revealed, hollowly. "I gave him the rest of the human blood, since his Ma ain't need it anymore. I bit him at its pulse points to give him more venom – because, I don't know, maybe his vampire half needed more developed venom than he had, being half-human and all. I even tried that powdered mother's milk that we tried giving Nessie when she was smaller, a few months ago, but that was beyond useless. After a few days, I guess he t'weren't strong enough anymore, because one morning he went to sleep after crying all night – and, he just…he just never woke up again."

The gossamer-soft touch of Japer's Gift washed over him like a healing balm, just as Emmett began trembling uncontrollably, his mind stuck in the loop of the memory of that awful morning he'd realized that the hybrid baby – _his_ hybrid baby – had closed his eyes for the final time. He hadn't intended to become so attached to something that was supposed to be an experiment, but he had become instantly devoted to the thought of a dhampir child that was literally the flesh of his own flesh. When he had seen the first stirring of movement underneath the girl's taut, bruised skin, an achingly beautiful and fulfilling future had exploded into his mind and he had become obsessed with seeing this impossible creature come into the world.

But, for whatever reason, it had been a spectacular failure and all Emmett had been left with were memories that were too vivid and a guilt and disappointment that gnawed at him like acid.

"You're going to do this again, aren't you?" It was certainly a question, but the brittle resignation that twisted his voice made it clear Jasper already knew the answer. "No matter how many human women you have to force yourself on or how many of them die, you're going to keep trying until you have a baby out of this."

Emmett was distantly horrified at his own brutal honesty, the languid nod he gave his coven brother both freeing in its truth but damning its cruelty. He wanted to pretend that he had at least a little remorse for his determined path of forbidden desire, but there would be no use in faking something that he didn't genuinely feel. Jasper was anchored into his emotions at this very moment and would be able to tell if he was being anything less than honest, and it simply wasn't worth irritating his coven brother with deception and denial that he could see through with ease.

"I can't pretend I understand this… _unnatural_ …obsession that you and Rose have with wanting a child." Jasper offered thoughtfully, his voice once again neither condemning or approving but plain and factual. "I reckon I thought of it as an obligation of manhood and something I would get around to eventually, back when I was still human. But, once this life took me – I let go of all those expectations of humanity and accepted that I was an entirely different being than I was before. We don't have offspring, as these beings, but we can sire descendants through our ability to Turn humans, if the need for reproduction takes us. But, what you and Rose want – that is something entirely different, something I don't understand at all, hoss."

"I'm not asking you to understand," Emmett replied, not unkindly.

"What are you asking for, then?" Jasper gave him an even look over the rim of his tankard as he drained the last of his elk blood. "You didn't share this with me just to talk about it. You shared it because you need something from me and you needed me to know why you're asking."

Emmett braced himself, the moment of truth finally arriving. Jasper had not given any indication on how he felt about this and if anything could be taken from his words so far, it was that he was troubled at how obsessed Emmett was with the idea of a hybrid child and how far he was willing to go to make his idea reality. But, Emmett did not know how he would respond to an open request for help nor how he would feel about essentially being asked to be an accomplice to something as heinous was what Emmett was determined to do.

Emmett took a deep breath that was unnecessary for his accursed, immortal body and declared:

"I want to you to tell me where I can find the mad scientist – Nahuel's papa, his creator. He is the only immortal we know that has centuries of experience with creating healthy, thrivin' hybrids – and I reckon he is the only one who can tell me what I can do better next time and how I can get a hybrid baby that is healthy enough for me to bring home to Rose."

The strained silence returned as Jasper considered his words, his eyes burning with an intensity that made Emmett feel as though he were being dissected. This was the moment that everything hinged upon. If Jasper was truly against this, if he was repulsed by the remorseless determination that Emmett had to replicate the impossible, Emmett wasn't sure what other choice he had except to keep pressing forward on the predatory path he was currently on.

He had to see this child born and he had to be successful at giving his precious Rose the one thing her soul desired the most.

"Alright, then. I reckon I'll tell you where Joham can be found. But, if I tell you, yer going to have to promise me two things, little brother."

"You have my word. I don't care what it is, I swear you have my word that I will honor whatever promises you make me swear to, Jas."

Jasper blinked owlishly, clearly taken aback by the abrupt, vicious sincerity in which Emmett spoke. But, there was no denying Emmett's sincerity and with a look that was harder than granite, as Jasper declared:

"Before I tell you where you can find the mad scientist, you will promise that you will not create another dhampir child until you've spoken to Joham. You will find out how to create a dhampir with as little damage to the human incubator as possible, and once you are successful, you will never do this again. Once you and Rose have the child you so desperately want – that's the end of this, Emmett. You have to promise me that."

Emmett considered this for a very long moment, but then nodded, tightly. The future seemed a little narrower, the brilliance of possibility felt a little dimmer, but perhaps this was for the best. He had already crossed so many lines and reached a point of no return. What he had done was unforgiveable and what he was about to do, now that Jasper had given him what he desired the most – what he was about to do was unspeakable. There was no sense in pushing his luck and becoming greedy, in taking more than their fair share.

Edward and Bella were satisfied with their one, perfect child and Emmett knew that he and Rose could be, as well.

"I promise – it'll be this one baby and then, I'll never do this again." Emmett affirmed. "What of the second promise?"

"The second promise I want you to make to me is that you'll stop keeping secrets from my sister and let her know what yer fixin' to do." Jasper looked down his nose at Emmett, an interesting feat considering they were still sprawled out in the snow. "I reckon I understand why you didn't say anything before and well, if you'd succeeded, then it stands we wouldn't be having this conversation. But, Em – if this is something you're doing for Rose, for the two of you as a Union, then you need to include her in this and go about it as partners. I reckon your heart is in the right place, wanting to surprise her, but I also reckon I know my sister. If you show up with a dhampir baby that she didn't know anything about, she won't take it the way you'd want her to, and this will be all for naught."

Emmett blinked owlishly as the truth of his coven brother's words sank in and it was without a second thought that he nodded, fervently. He had been so single-mindedly focused on what the hybrid would represent to Rose, how it would be the most incredible fulfillment to a longing that they both thought was eternally lost to them, that he hadn't quite thought about how Rose would receive this. How she would feel about being presented with a baby that was to be her own, but she'd not been involved in the creation of. Emmett wanted Rose to feel as though this was their child, as genuinely and as deeply as if their destiny hadn't been stolen from them by this curse of inhumanity.

"I didn't – that's – thank you for making me see that, Jas." Emmett said, genuine gratitude in his voice as he already began brainstorming on how he would confess his secret to Rose and how he would get her to agree to be his partner in this, his co-creator of their greatest dream. "I promise you, I'll tell Rose about this and I'll see to it that we do this together. You're right – she is as much apart of this as I am, and I want her to be with me, every step of the way."

Jasper gave Emmett a look that was intense and searching and Emmett gave his all to not flinching or cringing away from the electric current of gossamer-sensation crawling over every inch of his body. Jasper was feeling him out, burrowing through his emotional body and ruthlessly seeking out any hint of deception or insincerity. He believed Emmett's words, but he needed to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were true promises and vows that would not be broken.

With a sudden, sharp nod, Jasper rose to his feet and beckoned him towards the cabin. The snowfall was easing up and soon, they would be able to hunt for hibernating bears that would not offer any resistance to their capture and would be far more enjoyable and filling than the elk blood they'd just partaken in.

"We'll finish off the elk and I'll tell you everything I know about the mad scientist, how we found him, and what I think you need to know about creating a dhampir babe to have and to hold."

Emmett didn't have to be told twice. There was a certain spring in his step as he followed his coven brother into the rustic, simplistic cabin, feeling lighter and more hopeful than he had in weeks. What was once a wild and impossible hope, an impulsive desire that had ended in loss and bloodshed, was now closer than he could have ever imagined. After all this time, all this longing for something he knew without doubt was no longer a dream to hope for, he would have what he desired more than anything in the world –

He would be a father and he would be a father for the rest of eternity.

* * *

( **Author's Note** : I can't imagine Rosalie being with someone who thrived in being a vampire, when she considers it her greatest regret and a curse. Rosalie hates being a vampire and I aligned Emmett's characterization to reflect that, for more reason than one. I think the concept of someone who hates being a vampire is a useful theme to explore in a tale where becoming a vampire is treated as a positive aspiration and an achievement for the protagonist.

Also, I want to dig into the theme of this allegedly superior-than-your-love vampire union is like. If it is as deep and devotional as Meyer says, then surely, doing anything to make their mate happy could lead to some dark places, especially as vampires.

Brace yourself, dear readers – it gets darker and more disturbing from here. Thank you for all the reviews and please, let me know what you think…)


	3. Part the Third: The Mother-Wound

**Part the Third:** The Mother-Wound

" _Vampires couldn't have children. If it were possible, Rosalie would have found a way by now._ _Of course, Rosalie could not conceive a child, because she was frozen in the state in which she passed from human to inhuman. Totally unchanging. And human women's bodies had to_ _change_ _to bear children. The constant change of a monthly cycle for one thing, and then the bigger changes needed to accommodate a growing child. Rosalie's body couldn't change. But mine could. Mine did. I touched the bump on my stomach that had not been there yesterday._ " – "Unexpected", Breaking Dawn, pg. 84

* * *

 **July 2008  
Skarsvåg Village, Nordkapp  
Finnmark County, Norway**

When Emmett had lovingly revealed to her that her birthday present was to be found in Europe this year, Rosalie had almost become light-headed with the possibilities that a European holiday could offer.

She imagined climbing to the peak of the Chablais Alps, standing four thousand feet in the air and watching the sunset over Lake Geneva, then making love on the mountainside under the light of the constellations. She imagined being mesmerized by the ethereal beauty of the opera, soaking in the stunning architecture of the recently built Oslo Opera House. She imagined a midnight picnic at Stonehenge, sitting within the circle of ancient stones as they drank from a hunted stag and shared bloodstained kisses. She imagined swimming far beneath the surface of the Mediterranean Sea and finding the seafloor, where they would dance to music only they could hear and explore the interesting deep-sea creatures that dwelled below. She imagined somehow ending up in the quaint, whitewashed home in Santorini and taking a brief pause from the world, pouring love and worship into each other in their private, peaceful home on the Aegean Sea.

Rosalie imagined a whirlwind of activity for the month that they were to be in Europe and she was not disappointed.

The thirty days leading up to her birthday, on July first, were more vivid and exciting than she could have ever imagined, and not for the first time, Rosalie was thankful that an impulsive, somewhat selfish urge had brought her this incredible being as her forever husband, her eternal mate. No matter how long they lived, no matter how many lives they lived through their choice to participate in the human masquerade, Emmett was dedicated to discovering a new way of looking at the world, each day – and, Rosalie knew his love for the new and unexplored would lead her on a treasure hunt that would be more dazzling than the year before.

They were in Paris when Emmett had kissed her sweetly, softly and murmured against her mouth that their next stop was their final stop and where her gift would be found. Their arrival in Norway was surprising but not unwelcome. Emmett continued to sweep her off her feet night after night, her anticipation building as he continued to play coy and deny her guesses as to what her gift would end up being. Finally, once they had checked out of the suite in Oslo and spent a couple of hours shipping the spoils of her birthday shopping spree back to the United States, Emmett had announced they were ready to depart for her gift.

Rosalie had learned that her imagination rarely measured up to the reality that Emmett delivered, especially on sacred occasions such as her birthday. Any number of wild and incredible ideas ran through her mind as they sprinted up the western coast of Norway, their destination taking them up north, but Emmett wanting to take a route that could only be traveled by their kind. It was a beautiful memory to be imprinted on her immortal mind, running alongside the steely beauty of the Norwegian Sea and seeming to be chasing the midnight sun with her hand intertwined in Emmett's and love overflowing from her heart.

A few moments after midnight on July first, her ninety-third birthday, Emmett declared that they had arrived at their destination: "Welcome to Skarsvåg, Norway – population less than two hundred."

Rosalie pursed her full, wintry lips and tried not to look as underwhelmed as she felt. The village was nothing more than a cluster of homes and a handful of businesses on the coastline between two steep mountains. There were scant signs of life, maybe a human or two here or there, and a handful of chimneys expressing thin, wispy smoke into the crisp midnight summer. Rosalie supposed there was a certain charm about it – quaint, remote, and the very definition of a simple, steady life. But, the rustic charm of a rural Norwegian village did little to help her understand what about this could be her birthday present and she looked to Emmett with a confused smile.

"We're in Skarsvåg, because…?"

"We're here because this is where your birthday present is to be found, angel." Emmett replied simply. He reached for hands and pulled her gently towards him, until she was wrapped in his strong, unyielding embrace. Rosalie melted into his hug as he offered gentle, impossibly tender kisses and declared, "Rosalie Lillian Hale, I love you more than anything. You are my entire life and I'd do anything for you – anything to keep you safe, anything to provide for you, anything to make you happy. You know this, right?"

Rosalie didn't hesitate as she instantly affirmed, "I don't doubt it for a second."

Emmett smiled at the fierceness in her voice.

"I know you already know this, but with what I'm about to tell you, I reckon there's no harm in repeating it." Emmett was worship embodied in an immortal body, as he continued, ferociously, "I owe you my entire existence, Rosie. Carlisle may be our Creator, he might be the one who's directly responsible for me bein' a vampire and all – but, _you_ are the one who I owe my life to. It was _you_ , you were the one that saved me from an agonizing death. You are the one that I give thanks and praise to, every darned day, because without you, I wouldn't have this limitless existence. I wouldn't have any life at all, and if by the grace of G – and if by the grace of some higher power, I did survive that bear maulin' me, I still don't reckon I'd have a life worth livin', because you wouldn't have been in it."

"Oh, Emmett…"

Venom blurred her vision as tears welled in her eyes. He had indeed told her this more times than she could possibly keep count of, but Rosalie would never tire of his affirmation of love and gratitude for the endless, depthless love they shared. His wintry lips kissed the trails of moisture that her venom-tears left behind, and she smiled at the feather-soft sensation of his mouth against her marble-smooth, porcelain skin.

"The life that we have together is perfect, angel – more perfect than my wildest dreams. But, there are two things that I would sacrifice our life together for, in the blink of an eye. You know what those two things are, right?"

Rosalie sniffed, more venomous tears coming from her sunflower-gold eyes. "To be human again…and…to be a father."

Emmett nodded with a touch of sadness. His smile was slightly tremulous, but he continued on: "I know there isn't anything that can be done about bein' human again. I reckon that as much as I hate what we are, I've come to accept it and I'm good with what this life is. But, I've never stopped wanting to be a father. I've never stopped wanting to have babes of my own – and I've never stopped wanting a family with _you_ , Rose."

"Three sons and two daughters, who would give us fifteen grandchildren, and twenty-two great-grandchildren," Rosalie whispered, a raw pain in each word, the aching sting of eternal incompletion in her voice as she sniffled again, trying to keep her tears at bay.

"Julian would have been our eldest boy, intelligent and responsible and thoughtful. Fabian would have been our middle boy, free-spirited and inventive and helpful. Dorian would have been our smallest boy, brave and proud and adventurous. Eleanor would be our older daughter – she'd be a leader, independent and enchanting. Adelaide would be our younger daughter – she'd be a teacher, brilliant and beloved. They'd all be loved and happy and we'd give them anything they wanted or needed. They'd all get married to wives and husbands who would love them and take care of them – and they'd all give us beautiful grandchildren, who'd give us even more beautiful great-grandchildren. We'd have a whole and happy family – and it'd all come from how much we loved each other and how happy we were to be married to one another."

His words were both a soothing balm to her heart and an aching wound across her soul. Rosalie leaned into his embrace and buried her face into his chest, a sob coming from her despite her efforts to hold herself together and remain calm.

They spoke of this dream often – the family they would have wanted, the life they would have wanted to lead if they were humans and were not accursed with the static immortality that being a vampire forced them to exist in.

The marriage that she had dreamed of having when she was a human, Emmett had given her dozens of times over, staying fiercely committed to the role of son-in-law in their human masquerade, the fiancé who would marry Rosalie and give her a stunning, glorious wedding, forever and ever. The home that she had dreamed that she and her husband would have, Emmett had given her more than one of – a mansion in Rochester, a penthouse in Manhattan, a farmhouse in Georgia, a bungalow in Bali, a stonewashed home in Santorini, their little hideaway on the Aegean Sea being her most beloved of all their homes.

All that had ever been missing were _the children_.

Julian. Fabian. Eleanor. Adelaide. Dorian.

Their sons and daughters, the beautiful and perfect and incomparable creations that were the highest expression of the love and adoration that she and Emmett had for one another, as husband and wife, as a family. There had been countless days and nights in which the pair of them had sat together and dreamed up what their perfect, most ideal family would look like. They'd debated and haggled passionately and happily about what names their sons deserved, what names their daughters would be given; Rosalie had been unrelenting on the names of her daughters, the image of the fierce and proud and lovely young ladies she would raise being too strong to accept any input from Emmett, while Emmett had been insistent that his sons have powerful names, after emperors and saints, great men who'd done and been great figures in history. Julian had been named after a Roman emperor, while Fabian had been given the name of Emmett's favorite saint, and Rosalie had won out on Dorian as a nod to her favorite author, Oscar Wilde. Eleanor had been named after a European queen who Rosalie had enjoyed studying about once as a History major, while Adelaide had been named after a saint as well, the wife of a Holy Roman Emperor.

The children they would never have, they would never be able to create as their own – they had all been so lovingly planned for and discussed, down to the slightest detail. They had given so much care and love and attention to focusing on each child, the dreams and the hopes and the aspiration they had for their happiness and success. They had spent so much time-sharing ideas and exchanging thoughts on the family they would build, the lives they would lead as husband and wife who were creating their ideal life together.

All of it had been accessible, all of it had been accomplished – except the presence of their children.

"I would do anything, Rosie, anything at all to be able to have our family, with you. Anything at all."

"I know you would," Rosalie said tenderly. Her tears continued to prickle against her skin, and Emmett kissed them away lovingly. "I know there is nothing you wouldn't do for us to have our family – but, I think like you, as much as I hate it, I've come to accept it."

Emmett looked at her intensely, his golden eyes glowing with a thousand emotions she couldn't begin to decipher. "Rosalie, what if you didn't have to accept that we'll never have our family? What if I told you that we _can_ have our children – that we could have the family that we always wanted?"

Rosalie blinked, something about the intensity of his stare making her aware that this was more than just a sweet nothing, more than just a wild dream he'd pretend mightily that he could accomplish just because he loved her – much like his promises to give her the Moon and grab a couple of stars, while he was at it. "We already know that us having a family is impossible, Emmett. Or, at least us having a family the way we want to have one is impossible. I'm still not entirely on board with the idea of Creating children out of humans, like Carlisle and Esme have…"

"We don't have to Create children out of humans, Rose. We can have our own children, who look like you and I, who are our actual, blooded children, and we can have each and every one of them, whenever we're ready to do so." Emmett nodded his head towards the village below them, the narrow strip of civilization on the Arctic Sea that she'd never known existed before now. "I brought you here to Skarsvåg, because there is a family that I'd like to introduce you to. A family that will help us to have our own family, because they're going to teach us how to make dhampir children, so we can have each and every one of the children we dreamed of always having."

Rosalie stared.

She was sure she hadn't heard correctly. She _couldn't_ have heard him correctly. There had been plenty of moments that she'd allowed herself to dwell on the dark and wild thought that she'd had long ago, shortly after the Volturi had left and she had overheard her coven parents and cousin talking about the Law and dhampir children. She'd come up with a million and one different fantasies of acting on the possibility of using a human woman to create dhampir children. But, she had never spoken of her dark fantasy aloud. She'd certainly never shared her secret obsession with her husband, knowing how he felt about needlessly killing humans and appalled at her own self for being so willing to murder again for her own ends.

Yet, Emmett was speaking of her darkest, wildest, most forbidden fixation, as plainly and assuredly as this was another adventure they'd created and were about to set off on.

Rosalie couldn't pass out, this accursed and immortal body giving her no mercy from any moment or sensation in this life. But, as she swayed, stumbling backwards out of Emmett's embrace and deliberately inhaling the salty, crisp ocean air, Rosalie felt as though she was close to fainting. Without a hint of her usual grace, Rosalie dropped to the ground and began breathing rhythmically.

Emmett snickered. "Alice finally got you to practice that meditative breathing thing, huh?"

Rosalie glared up at him, her golden eyes molten with panic and confusion and irritation. "This isn't the time for jokes or laughing, Emmett. You just – you're saying – you're trying to tell me – "

"Take your time, angel," Emmett said, tenderly. "I know what I just said was a bit – unsettling."

"Unsettling?" Rosalie was incredulous. "Unsettling would have been if you'd told me that we were to be living here from now on, because you wanted to explore fishing on the Artic Sea. Unsettling would have been you saying we weren't at our destination and you wanted to do something like go to the North Pole. Unsettling would even be you deciding to take me diving for sea lions for my birthday. I think that declaring that we're going to have dhampir children is a lot more than unsettling, Emmett Hale!"

"Are you not – is this something you wouldn't want to do?" Emmett asked, suddenly unsure of himself. He glanced at the village below, his eyes nervous and worried, and abruptly kneeled beside Rosalie, where she remained sitting gracelessly on the ground. "Rose, I'm sorry if this upset you. I thought – I don't know, I thought we were on the same page when it came to this, but maybe I was wrong."

"No, no!" Rosalie rushed to make him understand, willing her thoughts to come together clearly and focus on the moment as it was. A million thoughts were thundering through her head, wild and limitless possibilities crashing around in her mind, the implications of what her husband was saying finally coming through the haze of shock that had clouded her mind. "No, Beloved, you aren't wrong. I'm not sure about how I feel about it, but I've definitely thought about what you're speaking of, more than once. I know that it's rather impossible for me to have our children, this wretched body being what it is. But, I've been thinking about it for a while, and well…it might be impossible for _me_ to have our children, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is impossible for _us_ to have children together, even still."

An awful, familiar guilt began unfurling inside of Rosalie, as she finally admitted to another being what she'd been fantasizing and daydreaming about for well over a year. Emmett was looking at her, steadily and warmly, his golden eyes encouraging as he made it clear that he was listening, that he was craving her thoughts on what he was proposing. Rosalie closed her eyes and breathed in the balancing, soothing pattern that Alice taught her, and a few moments of patient silence passed as she gathered her thoughts and could finally express her feelings openly to her husband.

"Once, not too long after the pardon from Volterra, I overheard Daddy and Mother talking with Eleazar and they were talking about the Law being amended, as it regards immortal children." Rosalie remembered the crisp and clear morning that had sparked this concept to begin with, gratitude briefly arising as she realized exactly how opportune it had been for her to be perched on that particular tree at that particular moment. "They were discussing how Renesmee's birth was going to change our world, how it would be the catalyst for many of our kind deciding to see if they could try their hand at creating half-human beings. And, although I know they disapprove of Renesmee's birth and are strictly against any more of her kind being created – I couldn't help but think about what it would be like if you and I did what Edward and Bella did. If you and I created a dhampir child and would finally be able to have the child we've always wanted."

The smile that Emmett gave her could only be described as beatific, his bone-white teeth gleaming with venom in the glow of the midnight sun.

"Emmett, are you saying that you're – are you telling me that you'd be alright with what we'd have to do, in order to get this child?" Rosalie asked, both hopeful and disapproving, all at once. "You do realize what we'd have to do, don't you?"

Emmett gathered her trembling hands in his own wintry hands and brought their intertwined fingers to his mouth, offering gentle, loving kisses. When he spoke, his voice was steady and unapologetic. "I know what we have to do in order to have a dhampir baby, because I've already attempted to do it."

Rosalie gasped. "You already attempted to do it? _Emmett_!"

"I do apologize fer keeping you in the dark, angel, but this was something I had to do on my own." Emmett kissed their hands again, and Rosalie chose to take comfort in the gesture instead of rebuffing as she wanted to. "Rosie, I had to see if I had the stomach fer this. I needed to know if I was really capable of doing whatever was necessary to get us our family. I didn't want to bring this up to you and then, when we went to go ahead and act on it, we find out I'm yeller-bellied and can't go through with it. I wanted to be sure of this, for you."

Rosalie eyed him, curiously. "So, you attempted do create a dhampir baby, and…?"

"I failed at it, mostly because I had no clue what I was doing." Emmett admitted freely. He tried to hide it, Rosalie was sure, but she still caught the shiver that made his brawny body tremble. She wondered what his failure had cost and what he had gone through because of it. "Now that I know I have the stomach fer this, I have spent the past year researching and tracking down someone who knows how to create dhampir babies and knows how to do it properly – and that's why we are here, Rose. That's why I've brought you here. We're going to meet with a family who knows how to create dhampirs and will share with us their experience and their knowledge – and, once we have the proper guidance, we can have the family that we've always wanted, my Adored."

Rosalie looked out down upon the quaint little fishing village – Skarsvåg, Norway, population less than two hundred.

She had never heard of this place before Emmett had brought her here without warning. But, now, as she stared down at the cluster of houses on the coastline, quiet and slumbering under the glowing illumination of the midnight sun, this little fishing village suddenly meant more to her than she could express. There was no place on Earth she would rather be than here, in this unassuming Norwegian hamlet on the Arctic Sea.

"Emmett, if we do this, then we're risking a lot and we'll be crossing a line that we can't come back from."

"I'm aware of that, Rose. I'm ready to accept any consequence or risk any outcome, so long as the end result is us having our family."

"People will die because of what we're about to do."

"Possibly. Our sister didn't die because of Nessie, so this doesn't automatically have to become a death sentence for the lady we choose."

"Our parents, our brothers and sisters, they will _never_ forgive us for this. We may very well lose our family because of this."

"I'm willing to sacrifice the family that created us, in exchange for the family that we will create. Our parents and our siblings are important to me, but they don't mean half of what Julian, Fabian, Eleanor, Adelaide, and Dorian meant to us. I love them dearly, but I love you and the children we will have more."

"Are we willing to risk everything for this, Emmett? Does the chance to have children really mean this much to us that we'll go this far and risk this much?"

Emmett untangled their hands and brought his own to her face, gently cupping her ethereally beautiful face his grasp and kissing her soundly.

"Yes, Rosalie, all of it is worth it. No matter how many times you ask, no matter how many ways you put it – the answer is _yes_ , _it's worth it_ and it will _always_ be worth it, no matter what."

Rosalie was quiet for what felt like ages. Her amber-gold eyes stared without seeing into the horizon, her mind well away from this moment in time as she thought about what this meant, about what moving forward on this path would mean.

Emmett had put so much thought and care into this, her impossible birthday gift. He had sincerely spent a great deal of time searching and seeking out what was needed to bring him here to this remote outpost, so far from home and from their family. This very possibility had occurred to her well before he'd put his own plans into motion, but she hadn't had any of his bravery or initiative to act upon the deepest, most unspoken desires of their hearts. She hadn't had the courage to defy her worries and fears and doubts – she hadn't even had the courage to speak them aloud to her husband, leaving Emmett to go through all of this effort without the assurance of knowing he was supported and encouraged in this wild but possible idea.

They would be risking everything, if they went through with this.

They would be harming human women and putting them at risk for violent, frightening deaths.

They would be breaking the Law as it stood, regardless of the continued deliberation and the hopeful amendment that had yet to be issued from Volterra.

But –

Julian, their brilliant thinker. Fabian, their creative free thinker. Eleanor, their enchanting leader. Adelaide, their beloved teacher. Dorian, their brave adventurer.

What had been kept from them was worth more than what they would lose in this journey of attempting the impossible, and as Rosalie looked into her husband's eyes and saw his unyielding conviction, his utter devotion and loyalty to the family they were so close to finally having – she made her decision.

"Children are the best present that I could think of, my love." Rosalie said worshipfully, and the smile that she gave Emmett could have rivaled the arctic sun. "I'm willing to sacrifice everything for the family that we will have and I'm ready to receive my birthday present. Take me to meet the family that will teach us how to create our family, my Beloved."

All of her worries, all of her fears, all of her shame, all of her guilt – Rosalie left it behind on the arctic mountaintop that they descended from, heading towards the village of Skarsvåg.

If those who didn't want children and had been perfectly willing to throw the gift of childbearing to the side were still able to have what they didn't want, then she and her husband could most certainly have what they'd sacrifice each other and their souls to have.

Julian. Fabian. Eleanor. Adelaide. Dorian.

The names of her coming dhampir children pounded within her in the place of the heartbeat that she'd lost so long ago. She would finally be a mother – and in being a mother, all the wounds that she thought she would have to carry for eternity would be forever healed. She would be complete for all of time.

* * *

( **Author's Note** : Skarsvåg, Norway is a real village, but I've definitely never been there – all descriptions and knowledge come from doing my due diligence on Google. I decided to make this chapter a little fluff-heavy, because starting next chapter, it is going to get _creepy_. Remember, the subgenre is Horror for a very real reason and we're going to get knee-deep into all the dark and wild implications, unfortunate and otherwise.

There are seven or eight more chapters to go, so if there is a question or a curiosity about the story so far, just be patient and I promise you it will all be answered. There are layers to this tale and I'm going to be sure to get them all! I appreciate all of the reviews, follows, and praise so far – please, let me know what you think of this update!)


	4. Part the Fourth: The Crossroad Deal

**Part the Fourth** : The Crossroad Deal

" _If it's a child she wants, she can have it. She can have half a dozen babies. Anything she wants_." – "Sure As Hell Didn't See That One Coming", Breaking Dawn, pg. 116

* * *

 **July 2008  
Skarsvåg, Nordkapp  
Finnmark County, Norway**

The youthful woman who answered the door was tall enough to look him square in the eye and Emmett was startled, not expecting that this is who they would be greeted by.

Her heartbeat was thundered in her chest rapidly as she narrowed her darkish eyes at him, warily. " _Hilsener. Hva kan jeg gjøre for deg?_?"

" _God morgen_." Emmett said in passable Norwegian. His mouth moved clumsily around the language, but the young woman's brief nod made it clear she understood him all the same. " _Er dette hiem av Dr. Joham_?"

The young woman arched a slender eyebrow, questioningly. She stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind her sharply – and both Emmett and Rosalie gasped as the ember-like sunlight touched her skin and she glowed with a pearlescent sheen that echoed the luminescence of a vampire. " _Det avhenger. Hva vil du med min far_?"

Emmett shared an awed look with Rosalie, as the young woman's words confirmed what he'd suspected: if Dr. Joham was her father, then this young woman was a dhampir – one of the first dhampirs in existence. They both looked upon her with molten-cooper eyes and she studied him and his wife in return, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. The young woman before him was a perfect, flawless cross between humanity and inhumanity, an undeniable fact that was evident by looking at her. Her skin was indeed glowing with the luminescence of a vampire, but the rich flush underneath her porcelain skin was only possible for someone with a living, breathing body – a body with a thriving, strong heartbeat. The heartbeat was far swifter than any humans could have been, but the iridescent gleam of venom on her eyes – which were not dark, but instead a very deep red – was that of a human-consuming vampire.

This was a dhampir – both human and vampire at once, an intersection between the living blood of humanity and the undead venom of inhumanity.

Emmett knew that he was staring, but he couldn't help himself. Here, standing before himself and his wife, was the proof that he and Rosalie were closer than they had been in nearly a century to becoming parents and having the family they'd so lovingly planned for and dreamed of. The dhampir blushed under the intensity of his gaze and Emmett was further awestruck to witness the rise of color underneath the impenetrable, marble skin of an immortal.

Emmett offered his hand to the dhampir, smiling with true warmth and happiness as he clasped her hesitant, tepid hand.

" _Mitt navn er Emmett Hale og dette er min kone, Rosalie._ " Emmett gestured to himself and Rosalie, who smiled winningly, though he knew she didn't understand a single word of Norwegian being spoken. " _Vi er middagen gjestene av din far, og han spurte oss å komme raskt til en om morgenen. Er Dr. Joham_?"

The dhampir gasped with delight. Her entire demeanor shifted and where she'd been wary, unsure of what to make of the vampires with golden eyes, Emmett was certain – the dhampir was now bright and welcoming, beckoning them inside of her home with a warm smile.

"Welcome, Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale," the dhampir said sweetly, her dark-red eyes unblinking as she studied them with open curiosity. Her English was thick and deliberate, but Emmett was sure it was far superior to his Norwegian. "I am Serena de Magalhães, the scientist's eldest dhampir. I'm happy that you found my home, with little difficulty."

"We're pleased to make your acquaintance, Serena." Rosalie was polished elegance as she held out a bloodless-pale hand to Serena. "My husband and I thank you for your hospitality. We've traveled so far for this visit, and we're excited about the possibilities it will bring."

"Of course, the pleasure is all ours." Serena said, sincerely. "My father will be home shortly, he's out fetching our meal – but you're welcome to join my sisters and I in the lounge. We've just taken out the wineglasses and we'd be happy for you to join us."

Emmett gestured encouragingly. "By all means, Miss Serena – lead the way."

The lounge was modestly decorated in shades of gentle blue and muted gold, boasting an open and unobstructed view of the shoreline and the choppy, steel-gray waters of the Arctic Ocean. A pair of giggling young ladies were standing at the sleek wet bar and the room became sharply silent as Emmett and Rosalie entered the lounge with Serena.

Emmett tried not to frown as he noticed two pairs of apple-red eyes studying him and his wife, openly. These dhampir women were different from his niece, little clever and gentle Nessie, for their eyes were clearly inherited from their vampire father, not their human mothers. Nessie had the very ordinary brown eyes, the same cinnamon shade as Bella's eyes had been when she'd been human, and as far as Emmett knew, they never changed. Nessie had been hunting alongside the coven since shortly after she was born, but her eyes never changed or gave indication to how potent her thirst was. Emmett wondered what made these dhampirs different from his niece and how varied the differences in dhampirs could be.

"Sisters, our guests have arrived." Serena announced and gestured towards Emmett and Rosalie. "Maysun, Jennifer, these are our dinner guests, Mr. Hale and his wife."

The dhampir who stepped forward and offered a polite smile matched Serena in height and build. Her English was accented, but wildly different from that of her sister – not Norwegian, but something from another part of the world, entirely. "Welcome to our home, Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale. I'm Maysun, one of Dr. de Magalhães's dhampirs. I'm pleased to meet both of you."

Maysun smiled prettily, venom gleaming upon her milk-white teeth. Emmett was certain he was being rude, but he couldn't help himself as he stared in fascination at the dhampir before him. Her skin was the same impenetrable marble as a vampire, but there was no mistaking the flush to her almond-colored skin; she looked healthy and alive, no hint of the bloodless pallor that vampires had because of the lack of blood flow under the skin. Her hummingbird-quick heartbeat confirmed that dhampirs possessed a heartbeat that was distinct and clearly different than that of their human parent – the steady pulse was swifter and harder than any human, almost eerie in its frenetic, unrelenting rhythm.

"We thank you for having us," Rosalie said, her voice burning with emotion. Her smile was genuine, a dazzling, dizzying expression of her deep happiness, and Emmett kissed her dimpled cheek briefly, pleased beyond measure that she was enjoying her birthday present so fervently. "My husband and I are deeply interested in your father's research, and we're looking forward to enjoying your hospitality this evening."

Maysun looked pleasantly charmed by Rosalie and her smile became warm instead of polite. Her thick, dark hair was braided into a long plait that she teased the ends of, as she beckoned to the third sister, the dhampir named Jennifer. The dhampir offered her hand to both Emmett and Rosalie, and he could tell by Rosalie's imperceptible shudder that he wasn't the only who found the lukewarmth of her small hands somewhat unnerving.

"Welcome to Norway, Mr. and Mrs. Hale." Jennifer said, and it was a pleasant surprise to hear the familiar clarity of an American accent. "I've heard much about you and I'm very interested in getting to know you better."

Jennifer stepped back as quickly as was polite and nearly scurried across the room, seating herself upon a simple, navy settee. Emmett blinked in surprise as he caught the acrid, rusting scent of fear lingering in her wake. Humans were the only ones whose scents varied so wildly, and his ability to smell her indicated that her humanity seemed to be more prevalent than that of her sisters. Her dark-gold skin was radiant in the glow of the midnight sun, but it was more iridescent than it was pearlescent. Thin scratches upon her forearms and a healing bruise on her narrow shoulders suggested that she didn't have the same granite skin of a vampire, yet the iridescence was an unmistakable echo of the luminescence of an immortal. If it weren't for her apple-red eyes, Emmett would have very little chance of distinguishing her from an ordinary human by simply looking at her, and his heart leapt with excitement at the thought that dhampirs could be human-dominant as easily as they were vampire-dominant.

The closer to humanity their own dhampir children could be, the better.

"Could can I offer either of you a glass?" Maysun asked brightly, holding up two empty wineglasses. "Dr. de Magalhães should be back shortly, but in the meantime, there's no harm in enjoying a drink."

Rosalie nodded graciously, but Emmett found himself eying the wineglasses warily. His least favored part of the human masquerade was the consumption of food and drink while amongst the living and the dhampir women were as human as they were vampire. The bitter curse of immortality was merciless in how it stole the pleasures of life and the ability to enjoy them – and Emmett was not looking forward to accepting the glass of wine from their hosts, only to have the wine curdle in his mouth when it came in contact with the wretched venom.

His apprehension about having to be gracious and polite to their half-human hostesses was so intense, Emmet didn't notice until it was far too late that the burgundy liquid in the wine glass was not wine nor had they ever said wine was what was being served.

The mouthful of fresh, human blood filled his mouth like the purest ambrosia.

A slow burn instantly erupted in his throat, a blistering sensation that he hadn't felt in decades scorching his mouth so fiercely, Emmett coughed harshly. The thirst for blood dulled itself on an animal-abstinence diet and instead of the persistent if bland ache that he was familiar with, the thirst that had been awakened in him with the taste of human blood was _painful_. He had nearly forgotten how agonizing and wretched the thirst of a human-consumer was, the acidic burn clawing at his throat enough to drive him mad if it wasn't soothed. He tipped his wineglass back desperately, hungrily gulping at every possible drop of blood in the glass. The blood was a soothing balm to his thirst, the pain receding as he reached for Rosalie's untouched glass and drained hers, as well.

"Oh, my! Perhaps I should have offered you a tankard, Mr. Hale." Serena was openly fascinated as she gestured absently to Maysun, who scurried off without hesitation. "I can imagine that you and Mrs. Hale had a long journey here and are in need of nourishment."

Emmett stared at the empty wineglasses in his hands with horror.

"Mr. Hale would welcome another drink, if it isn't too much trouble, Serena." Rosalie declared, her melodious voice genteel and charming. Emmett glanced at her in disbelief, but Rosalie merely removed the glasses from his hand and returned them to Maysun, who'd appeared with a glass tankard that was filled nearly to the brim with thick, viscous blood. Her Midas-gold eyes were troubled and panicked as she offered the tankard to Emmett, who took it hollowly. "We have been on the road for the past twelve hours, straight from Oslo. We took the scenic route, and as I'm sure you can imagine, the trip burned a fair amount of energy. We want him at his best, when Dr. de Magalhães arrive and we sit down for dinner."

Emmett swallowed thickly as an excess of venom filled his tingling mouth and tried his hardest to sip the tankard with far more restrain and grace than he'd consumed the wineglasses. Shame, as scorching and unforgiving as the thirst burning wildly in the back of his throat, unfurled inside of him as he sipped at the human blood and enjoyed it, almost lustfully. He had been willing to cross any number of unthinkable lines to achieve his goal and be able to have the family that he and his wife desired, remorselessly pushing forward no matter what price must be paid.

Emmett had never considered that the sacrifice and price to be made might include corrupting and violating himself, as willing as he was to corrupt and violate all others.

"I do apologize for my lack of manners, ladies," Emmett said in a low voice and the dhampirs all giggled, as he winked at them knowingly. Rosalie patted his leg encouragingly, silently approving of how quickly he'd gathered himself and was adapting to the nasty surprise that had just been thrust on them. "It has been a very long while since we indulged in delicacies such as this, and I reckon the rush was a bit more potent that I remember."

"The rumors are true, then?" Jennifer asked, quietly. When Emmett looked at her sharply, his movements electrified by the power of the human blood flowing through his body, she shrank further into her chair – and he wondered how he must seem to her, the half-human being that she was. "Papa informed us that his guests were advocates of an extremist cult that promoted unorthodox dietary lifestyles. I didn't think – I can't imagine what it must be like to consume animal blood. I didn't think it was possible. But, your eyes – your eyes tell it all."

Emmett blinked in surprise, sharing an astounded glance with his wife. An extremist cult? Was that how their coven was perceived throughout their kind? Carlisle certainly was quite radical in how he approached humanity, his determination to see humans as their fellows and not their food shared by so very few vampires throughout their world. But, this was the first time he had ever heard Carlisle's teachings referred to as extremists or their coven as a cult. It didn't sit well with him, at all.

Rosalie recovered first.

"Well, I'm not certain I'd say we're extremists nor a cult, sweetheart," Rosalie said, gentle steel in her voice. "But, you are correct that our coven is committed to an uncompromising animal-abstinence lifestyle. We understand that we have an inherent biological instinct to prey upon humans. But, we also believe that discipline and sacrifice can overcome this instinct and allow us to live peaceable amongst the humans we once were."

"Uncompromising, you say? Mr. Hale is enjoying his drink far too much for you to fairly declare you are uncompromising." Maysun said with a poisonously sweet smile.

Emmett placed his arm across Rosalie as his wife leaned forward, bristling. Rosalie took great offense at anyone who didn't immediately agree to the soundness of Carlisle's teachings and she could be rather heated in defending their coven father's ideologies, especially in his absence.

"Perfection isn't required in order for you to live out my father's teachings." Rosalie said, primly. "All that is required is a willingness to be disciplined, be mindful, and be respectful of human life."

Jennifer blinked owlishly, her ruby-red eyes brimming with raw curiosity. She was the only dhampir in the room who seemed curious about their chosen lifestyle, however. Emmett did not miss how strained and chilled Maysun's smile became nor did it escape him how Serena was openly glaring at his wife, disdain clear in her rounded face. Jennifer leaned forward on the settee, looking eagerly towards Rosalie, another question forming on her lips, when –

"That will be all the questions you have for our guests, _Genoveva_. As much as I admire Dr. Cullen as a peer and a fellow scientist, I'm afraid I can't allow his misguided and dangerous ideologies to become a discussion topic in our home."

Jennifer leaned back as though she'd been tugged upon and when she settled back into her seat, the vampire beside her was suddenly obvious. Emmett blinked wildly, wondering how he hadn't seen the vampire before this very second, when was very clearly sitting next to his youngest daughter on the settee. It was clear that this was the elusive mad scientist that Jasper had told him about, the vampire who'd experimented with breeding human women so successfully that he had several half-human children. Each of his dhampir children possessed his rounded face and apple-red eyes, though Serena and Maysun were the ones who'd inherited his height, while Jennifer possessed the most feminine expression of his face. The only thing that distinguished him as an entirely different being than his children was the bloodless pallor of his skin, despite the swarthy undertones to his complexion that must have been a remnant of what he'd looked like as a human.

"Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale – or, should I address you as Mr. and Mrs. Cullen?" The mad scientist made it plain that if he were made to address them as Cullens, he wouldn't be pleased about it.

"Mr. and Mrs. Hale will do quite fine, I reckon," Emmett replied. The unfriendly words about his coven father was a clear warning that the mad scientist was no fan of anyone who advocated or cared for humans as more than food, and Emmett had no desire to set the vampire against him before he'd received the information they sought. "My wife and I are pleased to meet you, doctor. We've spent a great deal of time tracking you down and we're happy that our search has resulted in being able to share dinner with you and discuss your research."

The mad scientist eyed them coldly for several silent moments, before nodding tightly. "Welcome to Norway, Mr. Hale. I'm Dr. João de Magalhães, though I'm certain you've been told my name is Joham." When Emmett nodded with a slight smile, João smirked and declared: "Joham is an Anglicized version of my name. But, given your acceptable fluency in my eldest dhampir's native language, I believe you can handle the true pronunciation."

João seemed to be a mockery of what a human scientist was thought to look like – a button-down shirt whose sleeves had been ripped off at the seam, a pair of slacks that were bloodstained and torn across the thigh, with a pair of black-framed glasses that he couldn't possibly need as an infallible mortal. Emmett felt his throat constrict irritably as he realized the bloodstains were fresh and there were smudges of blood all around his fingernails, red and rusty and likely still warm.

"If you'll follow us, you'll find our meal awaits us in the dining room." João declared without preamble. His eyes were unblinking as he watched Emmett and Rosalie rise to their feet, Emmett lurching slightly as if he were intoxicated because of the rush of the human blood he'd consumed. "I hope you find our selection both appetizing and filling."

Something about the mad scientist's words sent a chill down his spine. Emmett found himself reaching out to brush his thumb across Rosalie's perfect mouth, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip anxiously as she stared after the mad scientist and his dhampir daughters.

"Emmett, are you sure you know what you're doing? This is – I didn't expect – oh, _your eyes_." Rosalie looked shattered as she blinked up at him and Emmett could see his reflection clearly in the gleam of venom that made her eyes glassy and clear. His eyes were an unnerving shade of orange, the human blood potent enough to start affecting the normal, melted-gold color of his irises after only three glasses. "Oh, Beloved – I'm worried about this. I didn't think we'd be crossing lines like this. _You're drinking human blood!_ "

Emmett pressed his mouth to hers firmly, once, twice, three times. Pleasant conversation was coming from the general direction that the mad scientists had led his family in, and Emmett hoped that they wouldn't appear rude by taking a few moments to have this private, necessary conversation. Rosalie stood on her tiptoes, desperately accepting the soothing, tender kisses but keeping her lips firmly closed against the taste of human blood that was surely staining his mouth.

"Rose, I'm not like you, angel – I've fallen off the wagon plenty of times before and this isn't crossing the line as much as it would be for you." Emmett assured her quietly, ignoring the surge of shame and self-loathing that welled in him as he pretended to be more unbothered than he actually was. "Let's just not think too hard about this and consider it more of an informed jump off of the wagon, instead of a fall. Yes?"

Rosalie's bottom lip trembled sadly. Her amber eyes smoldered as venom tears welled up, but Emmett shook his head a touch desperately.

"Rosalie – _stop_. There's simply no need for this, darlin'. I'm alright, I promise you I am." Emmett glanced towards the dining room and could have sworn he saw a glimpse of red eyes. "If we can just get through this dinner, we'll everything will be fine. We won't have to do anything like this again, but this is necessary, for the moment and I'm willing to do anything for this – for _you_. Just…try to keep yourself steady and this will be over with soon. Alright?"

Emmett brought his wife into his embrace and kissed her softly, respecting her resistance to the taste of human that lingered pleasantly in his mouth. When he released her, smacking her bottom soundly and pulling a fleeting smile from her, Emmett tucked her delicate hand into the crook of his elbow and led her towards the sounds of laughing and talking coming from the dining room. His throat pulsed painfully as the scent of fresh blood overwhelmed his senses. He wondered how many elk or deer it would take to cleanse himself of human, to once more suppress the twisting agony of thirst that was driving him to distraction –

Rosalie made a low, vicious hissing noise in the back of her throat as they walked into the dining room.

Emmett stared in astonished horror at the group of humans who were hogtied on the pristine oak table. Two men and a woman were roped up together, their arms and legs bound unforgivingly behind their backs, while a separate snarl of rope was keeping four children held together punishingly. None of the humans had a scrap of clothing on, but Emmett felt his chest tighten as he recognized the blood-soaked sleeves on the twisted arms of one of the men. The mad scientist was _wearing_ the brutalized human's clothing, likely having torn them straight from the man's body after killing him. The woman's bright brown hair was clumped with dirt and leaves, the long tangle of it hanging limply over the edge of the table, nearly reaching the floor and dripping blood on the wooden floor.

Emmett closed his eyes disgust as he glanced at the bodies of the children.

Each of their necks had been cleanly snapped, arched at unnatural angles and a livid purple where they had been strangled mercilessly. There were more children than there were adults, but their sizes had apparently made it easy to tie them up together brutally and make a bundle similar to firewood, out of their bodies. This was obviously an ordinary dinner for the mad scientist and his dhampir children. The sisters were happily chattering amongst themselves, a blend of English and Norwegian, as they dutifully began undoing the complicated knots that had keep the collection of bodies, bound and awaiting consumption.

"Please, Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale – have a seat at our table anywhere you wish." João the mad scientist said in what Emmett was sure the vampire meant to be a welcoming tone, but instead only made Emmett feel unclean. "My dhampirs will have one of the children each and the regular-sized entrees are for our enjoyment."

Emmett focused on the piercing sensation of Rosalie's long nails clutching his forearm, viciously. The sensation of pain brought his mind away from the blistering pain in his throat, and Emmett seated Rosalie in the chair that was the furthest away from the human corpses. He claimed his own seat beside Maysun and the dhampir girl blushed, prettily; it was slightly alluring, watching the blood rise to the surface and stain her pearlescent skin, blood moving differently under the impenetrable granite skin than it did under pliable human skin. Maysun freed the human woman from the ties neatly and tugged on her bruised arm, offering the slender limb to Emmett, with glittering, ruby-red eyes.

"Here you are, Mr. Hale. The presentation may not be the most attractive, but the blood is fresh – she's scarcely been dead an hour." Maysun looked at him expectantly, and her eyes were not the only eyes upon him as he accepted the woman's arm from the almond-skinned dhampir.

Emmett ignored the alarming warmth of the arm he held in his own chilled hands, the softness of the dead woman's skin as he bit down purposefully on her arm and pulled cooling blood from her body. He looked at the mad scientist evenly as he began feeding in earnest, their unblinking eyes studying each other intensely, before João nodded with satisfaction. The mad scientist accepted the leg that Serena was offering him and tugged at the corpse of one of the men, pulling the limp body towards him and situating the cadaver comfortably on his broad lap.

"I must confess, I'm thoroughly surprised to see the Created of Dr. Cullen have sought me out." João said conversationally, bright red blood staining his venom-drenched teeth. "If your wife's dedicated refusal to join us in our meal is anything to judge by, the radical teachings of Dr. Cullen would likely not approve of what you're seeking to do."

Emmett dropped the arm he was holding and absently reached for the other arm. He was deliberately avoiding his wife's gaze as he sank his teeth into the corpse's flesh, drank deeply, then answered the mad scientist. "My wife and I are the Created of Dr. Cullen, yes – but, you'll find that we have our own ideas about how we'd like to live out our existence." As if to demonstrate his ability to do what he chose, he bit down on the woman's neck with vigor, hardly able to drink fast enough to quench his uncontrollable thirst. "My wife and I have wanted children of our own since well before we became vampires. But, we thought that our ability to do so was lost when we became immortals. When we discovered the existence of hybrids – pardon, when we discovered the existence of _dhampirs_ , we felt we'd been presented with an opportunity to have what we've always wanted. We've come to you in hopes that you'll provide us with qualified, experienced instruction on how to make a healthy dhampir. You are the highest authority on dhampirs and we'd be honored to have your guidance."

João looked pleased at Emmett's praise, as he gnawed on a finger of his cadaver thoughtfully. "You are correct, Mr. Hale – I am our kind's foremost expert on breeding healthy, thriving dhampirs. The evidence is right before you."

"Would you tell us about your daughters, Dr. Magalhães?" Rosalie asked in a strained but nonetheless gracious voice. "We are intimately familiar with dhampirs, as I'm sure you know. Our coven recently welcomed a dhampir, born of my coven brother and his mate, whilst she was still human. But, I'm afraid we don't know a thing about dhampirs, beyond the fact that our niece is one."

João had yet to blink, his eyes incredibly vivid as he neatly turned the corpse and sunk his teeth into the thigh. The mad scientist was silent as he drank deeply from the severed femoral artery and stared at Emmett and Rosalie with blistering scrutiny. Emmett had drained the woman's body with little mess, the fire in his throat quenched with a fulfillment he hadn't experienced in decades. He accepted the napkin from Maysun and cleaned his mouth, feeling more uncivilized for the action despite it being the one human quirk he'd experienced at the dinner table so far.

"I would be willing to share everything I know about dhampirs, Mrs. Hale. But, I would require something in exchange for the access to my knowledge and expertise."

This time, when Rosalie glanced at him uneasily, Emmett did meet her eyes – and she flinched, her bottom lip trembling again at the sight of what must be his scarlet-red eyes, heartened and brilliant from consuming so much human blood, so abruptly. Emmett reached for her hand under the table and was relieved when she clasped his hand in both of her trembling hands. The troubled gleam in her honeyed eyes came from the position they were being put in by the feral vampire before them, a vampire who was clearly as feral as he was brilliant – not because she was upset with the actions he was taking in order to get what they needed from João. Emmett clutched her hand, soothingly, and looked at the mad scientist, coldly.

"Name the terms of your proposed exchanged, Doctor," Emmett said, with narrowed eyes. He felt strengthened, fulfilled by the influx of human blood he'd consumed, but also on edge and irritable. He could feel how the mad scientist was studying him, as though he were something of unusual interest in a petri dish, and it was beginning to rankle at him. "We're willing to be quite generous, financially, and we have considerable wealth amassed as a coven -"

João waved his bloodied hand impatiently, and Emmett wondered if it were possible for a vampire to feel queasy, as he recognized the mangled mass that João was clutching as an ankle. "I have no use for human materialism, Mr. Hale. The human world is my secondary world and I don't care about currency or assets or influence you could offer me, through that world. What I require has to do with _our world_."

Emmett gestured to show he was listening.

João leaned back in his seat, and at once, Serena and Maysun leapt up from their seats to remove the brutalized cadaver from their father's lap. He looked at Rosalie fleetingly, and judging that she was committed to refusing to consume human blood, the mad scientist yanked the remaining body from the table and bit down into the neck, indulgently. The mad scientist looked thoroughly satisfied with himself as he explained: "In exchange for my knowledge and expertise on how to create a healthy, thriving dhampir, I request that you allow me to study your offspring and expand my research through them. I'm not certain if you noticed, but dhampirs vary from one another. Each of my dhampirs is different from her sister and I have not been able to create the same dhampir twice. No two dhampirs are the same, and because of this realization, I've been stalled in my research." The mad scientist looked openly frustrated as he continued, "I'm theorizing that this is the same principle as human biology – everyone has their own DNA or no two people have the same fingerprints. But, that's exactly my dilemma. I'm not sure because I have not had the opportunity to study dhampirs that are not my own issue. If I were to instruct and guide you on how to create a dhampir for you to take as your own – _child_ – " João seemed to struggle with the idea that this was their purpose behind creating a dhampir, "you must agree to allow me to the privilege of studying the creature as it grows and develops, including it in my research, as I do my own dhampirs."

Emmett shared another glance with his wife. This was not as unreasonable as he was prepared for it to be, but neither was it an anticipated request. Rosalie was clutching his hand so tightly, he began to feel the familiar pressure of his skin fissuring, so he nodded to the mad scientist cordially. "As you might imagine, my wife and I require a moment to discuss this. If you'll excuse us for a moment?"

The midnight summer was crisp and clear, as Emmett led them into the quaint backyard of Serena's home. The Arctic Ocean was close enough that it created enough white noise between themselves and their hosts and Rosalie didn't hesitate to fling herself into Emmett's arms, a slightly hysterical sob coming from her as Emmett held her tightly, rather shaken himself.

"I'm sorry about this, Rosalie." Emmett stared sightlessly into the horizon, holding onto his wife for his own comfort as much as he was determined to comfort her. "I'm _so_ sorry. I knew that the bastard was strange and likely to be disturbing – but this, I didn't anticipate _this_ , Rose, and I'm so sorry that this is how your birthday is going."

Rosalie didn't answer immediately. Her slender body was trembling in his embrace, soft whimpers coming from her as she clung to him fiercely. Emmett had been prepared to cross any number of lines and go against everything he believed in if it meant he succeeded and received the knowledge he needed from the mad scientist. He had been prepared to be brave enough and strong enough and unflinching enough for both himself and his wife, already accepting that he would have to do the unthinkable to obtain the impossible. He had been more than ready to bear the brunt of anything disagreeable so that Rosalie would be exposed to as little unpleasantness as possible. His wife, his Adored should not have to endure the ugly, soul-staining things that Emmett had been warned was likely to occur in his pursuit for half-human children.

But, Emmett was now acutely aware of how terribly he had failed at protecting Rosalie from unthinkable horrors.

If he thought the shame of consuming human blood was his lowest point of this entire experience so far, it paled in comparison to the awful self-loathing he felt as his wife fought his way through hysterics on her birthday, her special day.

"If you'd like – we can leave. We'll make our excuses to our hosts and leave right now, if you don't want any parts of this any longer, angel." Emmett offered, quietly. Leaving was the last thing that he wanted to do, but he no longer cared for his own ends. All he wanted was to remove his wife from this unexpected horror and unhappiness, unwilling to witness her distress a second longer.

Rosalie looked up at him jerkily, her beautiful face glowing iridescent in the midnight sun. "I don't want to leave, Emmett – I just need a moment to gather myself. I said I was willing to do anything and I meant it, but…I think _I'm_ the one who didn't realize what we'd have to do, for this to happen. I thought I knew and understood…"

Emmett frowned with concern. "Are you sure, Rosie?"

Rosalie nodded fiercely. "I want this, Emmett. Honestly, I do." Her delicate hands swiped at her face harshly, wiping away the sticky trails of venomous tears on her marble face, and she looked up Emmett with a determination that made his spirit soar. "I wasn't expecting any of this, but now that I see just how far we'll have to go – I'll be alright. I can handle it."

Emmett searched her face intensely. He was looking for any sign that she wasn't sincere, any hint that she was only saying this because she could likely sense his obsessive commitment to this. But, all he found was a steely resolve that reminded him that as graceful and genteel his wife was, Rosalie was remarkably resilient and there was very little that could keep her down for too long. Emmett nodded, firmly.

"Then, we have a decision to make, angel. The bastard is insane, he's definitely feral – but his proof is in those dhampir girls who joined us for dinner." Emmett glanced back at the house almost unwillingly. "Rose, he has created not only one healthy, thriving dhampir, as he puts it, but _four_. We can't forget about the boy who Jas and Alice brought to testify before the Volturi, he makes four, along with his sisters inside. Rose, that's _incredible_. That's exactly the kind of knowledge and instruction we need, if we're going to succeed at this. I'll admit that he is as frightening as he is brilliant – but, I'm willing to tolerate his being one stepped removed from feral, if that means he will be our guide to our family."

Rosalie sighed. "I agree with all of what you said – but, Beloved, think about what he's asking for, in return. He wants to make our children his _research subjects_ , his lab rats. He is asking for access to our children in exchange for guiding us through their creation. Is this really the kind of crossroads deal that we want to strike, especially with a vampire such as this?"

Emmett shrugged. "I reckon I can't say that I'm against the idea, as much as I'm against the creature that proposed it." He shuddered as he thought about the mad scientist, gnawing and dismembering the corpse as causally as someone might enjoy a piece of chicken. "He just disclosed to us that he has not been able to create the same hybrid twice. Those dhampir sisters were all different from one another, despite being the same creature, and they're definitely different from Nessie – and, from what we understand, _all_ the female dhampirs are distinctly different from male dhampirs. Think about that for a moment, Adored. We want our children and we will have them, but do we want to be like Edward and Bella – oblivious to what our children are, what they're capable of, what they'll grow into?"

Her troubled expression returned, clouding her ethereally beautiful face. Rosalie frowned slightly, as she agreed, "No, you're right. I still think their blind insistence against Daddy studying Nessie and understand her is very irresponsible, as well as asking for trouble. They are taking the word of a human-consuming hybrid that Nessie will follow the same development track as he did, but they haven't even been willing to confirm that the dhampir was telling the truth about his own development. He wasn't very forthcoming, despite being cooperative enough with the Volturi and willing to talk with us after the trial."

Emmett nodded, seriously. Now that he had been introduced to the dhampir boy's vampire father, he was less inclined to believe that Nahuel, the mad scientist's son, was trustworthy or accurate in what he'd shared with their coven in the handful of days that he and his aunt had stayed in their home, following the pardon from the kings of Volterra. The dhampir had claimed that he wasn't anything like the mad scientist who was hosting them in his home at the current moment – but, nobody knew that for certain. Nahuel and his vampire aunt had disappeared back into the Amazon, unwilling to be contacted again by the curious American coven who they had assisted in their time of need, and they hadn't seen nor heard from them, since.

"Again, I'm not the biggest fan of this exchange – but, I'm willing to risk it, Rose." Emmett declared. A smile began tugging at his mouth, despite how very unfunny this entire excursion was turning out to be, and he quipped: "If it helps, then let's think of the good doctor as our eternal pediatrician."

Rosalie laughed, humorlessly. "Yes, he's exactly the kind of pediatrician I'd trust with my children's lives," she scoffed, half to herself. Her molten gold eyes found his own and she sighed, deeply. "Emmett, I want this so badly, I'm afraid of just how far we'll go to get it. Already, with this one dinner, we've gone against nearly everything we've been loyal to since we were Created. We've violated our tenets and we're desecrating Daddy's teachings without a second thought. But, I can't find it in me to care, Beloved – I really can't. I _want_ our children."

Emmett nodded reverently in agreement, his voice hushed with awe as he asked: "Rosie, did you _see_ those dhampirs in there, darlin'? We can have that – a house full of rascals that will be with us for all of eternity. They'd never become ill, they'd never outgrow us, they'd be ours forever. Those dhampirs have been with him for decades, as perfect and eternal as they day he created them, and I want that for us, angel. I want it as badly as you do."

"So, then – we've made our decision, yes?" When Emmett nodded firmly, Rosalie looked nervously towards the house again. "Well, then. Let's go ahead and inform our host of our decision."

Emmett curved an arm around his wife protectively as they entered the home again. His senses were assailed by the acrid, artificial scent of oranges as Maysun met them at the backdoor and he glared at her, his nose twitching irritably.

"Jennifer figured that it would be easier on Mrs. Hale if we cleared the table at once," Maysun informed them, brightly. "I don't pretend to understand your – dietary choices – but we wouldn't want to be unnecessarily rude to our guests…"

Maysun led them back towards the lounge, where the mad scientist was found, once more in his seat on the simple, navy settee. He was dressed in a moss-green sweater with crisp, dark slacks, though the inexplicable thick-framed glasses remained perched upon his nose. Emmett found that it was easier to talk with the feral vampire when he was not covered in bloodstained clothing or brutalizing a human corpse; he guessed that Rosalie felt the same, for she was less tense as the mad scientist gestured for them to reclaim their seats across from him. The dhampirs scurried from the room without being told, though their eyes were curious, and only vampires remained as the mad scientist arched a dark eyebrow questioningly.

"Well?" João prompted, bluntly. There was no need to elaborate, the single word clear in its intention.

"We agree to your proposed exchange, Doctor." Emmett announced and couldn't help but flinch as the mad scientist smiled in response. "In exchange for your knowledge and guidance in creating healthy, thriving dhampir children, my wife and I agree to allow you to study our children – but, there will be rules, there will be conditions, and your contribution to their creation does _not_ give you any ownership, authority or claim to any dhampir child we have."

The mad scientist shrugged easily, his unblinking eyes glittering with dark anticipation. "I have my own dhampirs, Mr. Hale, as you've seen. I know how to create as many more dhampirs as I wish, thus I have no interest in claiming any dhampir you and Mrs. Hale create for my own. I don't care for whatever mockery of a family the pair of you seek to have – I only care to study the dhampirs you create and expand my knowledge, that is all."

Emmett shared one last glance with Rosalie, who nodded primly.

"Very well, Dr. de Magalhães, my wife and I are pleased to strike this deal with you."

João leaned forward abruptly, his spidery hand extended meaningfully. Emmett hesitated for a brief second, more surprised than wary – it was the first human gesture that the mad scientist had displayed all evening. Their hands clasped briefly over the mahogany coffee table, sealing the precarious agreement they had formed. Emmett couldn't help the shiver that snaked down his spine as he let go, wondering if it was his imagination that João's grip seemed was colder than the ordinary chill of a vampire's touch.

"I hope we can interest you in after-dinner drinks, Mr. Hale, Mrs. Hale?"

The dhampir sisters entered the lounge once more and Emmett did not miss the spark of excitement that gleamed in their apple-red eyes. Serena directed Maysun and Jennifer to place the trays they were carrying on the coffee table, gracefully. Jennifer plucked up the center glass, a shy smile on her face as she offered it sweetly to Rosalie, who looked startled that she would be so boldly offered human blood after making her stance on human-consumption clear.

"There was a bird's nest right outside the window, and well – I don't know if this counts as an animal, but it was the best that I could do." Jennifer looked hopeful as she held the glass out insistently, and Emmett couldn't help but grin as Rosalie accepted the glass gingerly from the eager dhampir. "I couldn't imagine not having anything to eat, while a feast was going on around me."

Rosalie's smile became strained at the dhampir's causal description of the horrifying dinner party, but she nodded in thanks and sniffed at her wineglass warily. When she relaxed and took a grateful sip, the dhampir seemed exceptionally pleased and happily retrieved her own wineglass, settling comfortably beside her vampire father, once more.

The mad scientist raised his glass in a toast and announced: "To Mr. and Mrs. Hale and their coming family. May our collaborative efforts produce the finest dhampir that can be created."

Emmett had waited well over a year for this moment to arrive. From the second that Jasper had begun sharing his knowledge and his process to locating the elusive scientist whose mad experiments had created an impossible creature that shouldn't rightfully exist, Emmett had imagined this moment would be met with happiness. He expected to feel an unassailable good cheer, a relief that encouraged him and heartened him, motivating him to keep pushing forward and remain focused on the ultimate goal. He should have felt inspired by the sight of a vampire, surrounded by his devoted, eternal dhampir children, for this was his deepest, wildest, most craved desire come true.

Instead, Emmett felt strangely hollow as he raised his wineglass in return and nodded to the mad scientist he had worked obsessively to hunt down and connect with. The scorching pain in his throat prompted him to take a deep and eager gulp from his glass and as the human blood eased the burning thirst that had been reawakened, Emmett stared at the collection of dhampir sisters that hovered obediently near their father.

He was betraying everything he'd been loyal to, defying sacred teachings that had tempered the raging predator within him, and forced his wife witness and be complicit in things that would certainly leave a mark on her gentle soul well after all of this was over with.

But, if there was the barest chance that he could be the mad scientist – surrounded by his half-human children, a father for all of eternity after decades of existing with the wound of a loss he'd never quite had to start with – Emmett would push forward mercilessly, making any deal or accepting any sacrifice that was required for this to be actualized.

Julian. Fabian. Eleanor. Adelaide. Dorian.

The names of his children were worth every moment of this and if human blood was the price that had to be paid, Emmett would live with that – as eternally as he and his Beloved wife would soon live with the dhampirs that the mad scientist that had just toasted to coming existence of.

* * *

( **Author's Note** : Twice as long as the previous chapters, but only because the plot thickens. Seeing as they were only mentioned in passing in _Breaking Dawn_ , there is virtually no information on Joham the scientist or the dhampir females he created, thus I took a lot of liberty with them and simply extrapolated on their descriptions in canon to create their characterization. Meyer also is fairly bad at showing us the accurate characterization for the characters she describes. Therefore, I gave the scientist a Portuguese name and explained away his canon name as being Anglicized, for my sanity and accuracy only. Bonus points if you recognize the last name and can tell me the famous, real life human whom the fictional Joham descends from! ;)

We are officially into the subgenre of this story, so I hope my warnings were believed and properly heeded. I am really and truly aiming to keep it classic and recall the actual spirit of horror as it relates to vampire tales, but also, I felt there needed to be a stronger emphasis on how the consumption of animal blood versus human blood makes the difference for Meyerpires. I've always felt that it needed to be clearer in canon the difference between a vegetarian vampire and a non-vegetarian vampire and I want to dig deep into why a vegetarian diet is a sacrifice, requires discipline, and a stronger moral code than a vampire that follows their instincts.

Finally, the Norwegian translations are solely the results of Google. All mistakes are the results of Internet software, not me. Let me know what you think – I look forward to your thoughts!)

* * *

\- **Norwegian to English Translations** -

" _God morgen_." = "Good morning."

" _Hilsener. Hva kan jeg gjøre for deg?_ " = "Greetings. Is there something I can help you with?"

" _Er dette hjem av Dr Joham?_ " = "Is this the home of Dr. Joham?"

" _Det avhenger. Hva vil du med min far_?" = "It depends. What do you need my father for?"

" _Mitt navn er Emmett Hale og dette er min kone, Rosalie. Vi er middagen gjestene av adin far, og han spurte oss a komme raskt til en om morgenen. Er Dr. Joham_?" = My name is Emmett Hale and this is my wife, Rosalie. We are dinner guests of your father, and he asked us to arrive promptly at one o'clock in the morning. Is Dr. Joham available?"


	5. Part the Fifth: Pedigreed

**Part the Fifth** : _Pedigreed_

* * *

"I love you," he said. "It's a poor excuse for what I'm doing, but it's still true." – "The Game", Twilight, pg. 191

* * *

 **September 2008  
Rochester, New York**

"Honey, I'm home!"

Rosalie rolled her eyes at the savagely cheerful yell that shattered her studious silence, but smiled happily, nonetheless. Her husband had been gone since Friday morning, off on a highly anticipated hunting trip in the Adirondack Mountains, and she had begun to miss him as the weekend came to a pleasant close and he was due to return. Her heart was overwhelmed with love as she marked her place in her textbook and dashed down the stairs to meet him, eager to be in his arms after so many days apart.

"Ah, there's my precious Rose," Emmett said, worship burning in his sunflower-yellow eyes as he held his brawny arms open expectantly. "I haven't kissed your immaculate lips in approximately fifty-eight hours, so c'mere – let me taste you, angel."

Rosalie didn't need to be told twice. She leapt off of the curving staircase halfway down, her willowy body arching gracefully as she reached for her Beloved, and Emmett caught her aggressively, his arms coming around her in a crushing, passionate embrace that was her truest home. Their mouths connected fiercely, and Rosalie sighed blissfully into their kiss, enjoying the sting of venom as their lips met over and over, deeply and lovingly. Not for the first time, she found herself dizzyingly grateful that she would be able to have this moment for the rest of eternity. She couldn't imagine an existence where she wasn't able to feel this rush of love and adoration that could only been found in her husband's arms.

Emmett grinned against her mouth, squeezing her so tightly to him their bodies seemed melded. "Missed you, Rosie," he murmured, reverently, kissing her once or twice.

"I missed you more, Em, I swear I missed you more…"

Their clothing made a trail that could be followed from the foyer into the living room, where a roaring fire burned merrily, more for atmosphere than a need for warmth. Their lovemaking was fevered, ardent, the touch of her husband's hands across her marble skin more than enough to make up for the ache she'd felt when he'd been away. The rest of the day passed blissfully losing themselves in one another, their love pulling them into a spiral of pure happiness that neither wanted to end any time soon. As the sun began to go down, Rosalie couldn't remember what it was like to miss Emmett, for she was overflowing with love and contentment as they basked in the deep golden sunlight that illuminated their stunning view of Lake Ontario.

"What'd you bring back for us?" Rosalie asked with a satisfied sigh. Her slender fingers traced the flawless, sculpted planes of her husband's broad torso as she admired the iridescent glow that was brought on by the sunlight. "I feel like I smell deer, boar, and – bear?"

Emmett's expression was somewhere between a glare and a smile, as he nodded in confirmation. "A big, ugly grizzly, too. The sonofabitch tried to fight me fer one of the deer, but I got the upperhand on him at the last second. I hate those damned things, so I reckon I enjoyed killin' him a little too much…"

His indestructible hands came up to touch his neck, absently. Rosalie could tell from the glassy look in his honeyed eyes that he was thinking of the night he'd died. The unusually humid, sweltering night they had first met in the Smoky Mountains and she had saved his life. It had been decades since anything could harm or overpower him, but there were moments like this when he could still be overwhelmed by the acute memory of his death – the only memory he'd confessed to still having of his beforelife, as a human.

Gently, Rosalie moved his hands away from his neck, intertwining their fingers and kissing them, softly, lovingly, sacredly.

Emmett blinked, coming out of the loop of memory, and smiled blindingly at the adoring look on her face. The deep dimple on his cheek made him look more adorable than should be allowed, and she kissed the impression in his marbled skin, enamored.

A comfortable silence passed between the two of them. Rosalie was content to allow it to spiral onwards endlessly, this quiet togetherness that she adored and craved more than anything. This was her favorite part of separating from the coven and living to themselves for a while – the space and the quiet where they could simply exist in their love. But, all too soon the ornate carriage clock on the mantlepiece was chiming half past nine and Rosalie met Emmett's molten gold eyes knowingly.

"Time to prepare for our incubator's arrival." Emmett said quietly. "She'll be here around noon, right?"

Rosalie nodded. The words had charged the air with anticipation and apprehension all at once, and she found her nerves suddenly unsettled at the impending arrival of their human houseguest. They had prepared for this for weeks, the smallest detail considered and planned for, and there was nothing in her eternal existence so far that she had put more energy, time, and dedication to. But, still in all –

"Are we sure that this is what we want to do, Emmett?" Rosalie hated that her voice was tremulous, but she couldn't help it. Weeks of tension was coming to a peak and although she was looking forward to the human girl's arrival, for it was the first step of this wild and impossible journey – she was still afraid. "We still have time to change our minds before she arrives – we have time to decide differently, before we reach the point of no return."

Emmett smiled patiently at her, his honeyed eyes glowing in the warm morning sunlight. "Rosie, my precious Rose – there is no changin' our minds and there is no decidin' differently. We've put everything into this plan, angel. Everything. We've planned this carefully, we've made sure that we have prepared for every eventuality – now, all we need to do is set everything in motion, and that will happen once the human girl arrives."

Rosalie shifted uneasily. "I feel so awful about it, even still. Em, love – we're _preying_ on this young girl. We're bringing her into our home and _deceiving_ her –"

" _Because we have to_ , Rosalie." Emmett said, a rare firmness to his voice. "The Law may be in amendment, but The Law is still The Law – and the most supreme aspect of it is that _we must keep the secret_. We're deceiving her because we have to, otherwise, we're doing a lot more than taking advantage of a loophole. We'd be _breaking_ The Law if we tried any other way, except this."

Rosalie shuddered at the mere suggestion of breaking The Law. Unlike her coven brother, she had no desire to risk the wrath of the kings of Volterra on behalf of a human female. What they were doing was barely within the bounds of The Law as it was, a very deliberate exploitation of the letter of The Law, without actually crossing the line into violation. There was no need to outright rebel as Edward had – not when they were risking enough as it was.

"You're right, love." Rosalie admitted quietly and the tension in Emmett's broad, muscular shoulders eased somewhat. "I know that this is what's necessary and this is what we have to do, but I wish there was another way."

Emmett kissed the tip of her perfect nose, gently. "I wish the same, Rosie. I really do. But, I'm not interested in breaking The Law, as much as I'm willing to manipulate it and bend the hell out of it. When this succeeds, we want to be able to say we did everything within the letter of The Law. That will be important – so very, very important, Rosie love."

Rosalie sighed, though there was no relief tied to the action, this accursed body being without breath. Her husband's words hung heavily in the air as she and Emmett looked towards the mantlepiece clock, as one. Their bright-gold eyes studied the ornate hands that declared it was ten before the hour and without words, the seamless synchronicity that came from decades as eternal mates, Rosalie beckoned to Emmett that they should begin preparations for the much-anticipated arrival of their human incubator.

They didn't share words as they prepared for the arrival of their chosen human. Rosalie found the silence to be reflective, soothing, but Emmett – as was usual – only lasted a few minutes in the quiet. Her hypersensitive hearing clearly picked up on his fiddling with the iPod and she prepared to tolerate at least a couple of hours of whatever hip-hop artist or classic rock band her husband was currently obsessed with. More often than not, when Emmett was in control of the iPod, their home sounded more like a frat house than she could sometimes bear.

She heard him tap upon the screen and prepared herself for whatever noise he'd chosen –

But instead, Rosalie was pleasantly surprised to hear the gentle, ethereal piano solo that was the opening track to the album Edward had composed for her.

The album was the first in a collection that Edward had composed and created specifically for her as a gift and Rosalie was surprised that this had been Emmett's first selection, knowing that he wasn't very impressed or interested in their coven brother's musical creations. When she remarked upon her surprise, Emmett leaned out of the second bedroom that he was in and gave her a venom-coated grin.

"Oh, hush yer pretty little mouth," Emmett smirked. "For your information, this is for our incubator and her enjoyment – and not because I've suddenly come to like this girly-man music that Eddie makes up for you."

Rosalie giggled, but a curious frown colored her immaculate face. "She likes classical music? How did you determine this?"

Emmett poked his head out of the bedroom once more and she couldn't help another girlish giggle. His wild, dark curls had tumbled down over his face roguishly, the inky tips reaching down past his shoulders to tickle his collar bone, and he looked too adorable for words. He looked incredibly pleased with himself, as he declared: "I spent the past couple of days digging through her LiveJournal, her MySpace, her Facebook, and even her Flickr account – this chick digs the girly-man music, she lives for it. The pair of you have that in common, actually. So, I reckon that if I put some on, she'll be comfortable right from the start."

Rosalie smiled softly. He was being so very thoughtful about this, all of his focus going into the smallest detail, and her heart swelled in her chest as she realized how deeply important this was to Emmett.

There were very few things that her husband found worth his consistency and dedication. His favorite distraction from the grief and unending resentment behind losing their humanity was exploring the world, moving on to the next big adventure once his obsession of the moment became boring, leaving behind a trail of unfulfilled desires and uncompleted goals. The singular point of consistency and dedication in his life was herself. Not even their beloved coven was worthy of his unwavering loyalty, his restlessness and resentment peaking and overflowing every three or four years, necessitating a spell of existence such as this, where they lived on their own as a nomadic pair.

She had feared for a brief moment that this would be another one of his temporary obsessions. She had watched him carefully as time began to pass and the wild and impossible occurrence that was their coven niece was not new or as exciting anymore, as the solemnity of parenting a child that nobody had seen before and nobody knew how to best care for began to sink in and created stress and worry within their previously peaceful coven. She'd observed his steady and deep his interest remained, as the first year of sweet Nessie's existence came and went, and the true hardships of a growing hybrid became apparent and started burdening their coven brother and his wife. Rosalie had studied her husband and reflected upon his every move and thought and reaction as it related to their impossible niece, well before he had ever approached her and surprised her with the alignment of their darkest desires, and now that they were on the brink of putting it all into motion –

She was satisfied that her husband was more dedicated to realizing this forbidden dream than he had been about anything, including herself, in the near-century that she had known and loved him.

Emmett was prepared to set upon this path bravely and see it through until the end and for that, Rosalie felt her love and loyalty to her forever soulmate deepen and take root more fiercely than ever before.

"You keep makin' eyes at me like that and our incubator will get an eyeful of something she ain't supposed to be seeing," Emmett's voice was so low it was nearly a growl, sending a surge of honey-warm arousal through her. "We're supposed to be pretending to be brother and sister, but not _that_ kind of brother and sister, despite us being so close to the backwoods of the Catskills…"

Rosalie couldn't help but admire the beautiful peal of her own laughter, as melodious as bells. Her arousal dimmed almost instantly, leaving nothing more than a pleasant tingle in its wake, and she couldn't help but appreciate her husband's reminder. If nothing else, it helped to suppress the wild surges of lust she was used to being able to indulge in on a whim. Her restraint was going to get tested like never before, almost as intensely as it had been to resist the instinctive urge for human blood, because this was the most critical part of their chosen human masquerade –

Their human incubator had to believe that she and Emmett were brother and sister, otherwise their plan would become immensely difficult.

Emmett was once more in the bedroom, mumbling and snickering to himself about the ludicrousness of the masquerade they were living out, this time around. She easily heard every mocking and amusing comment he made to nobody in particular, from where she was in the kitchen, preparing the tasteful brunch the pair of them would have to choke down in the company of their human, for the sake of appearances. She continued to grin and appreciated the beauty of Edward's music, as she listened to Emmett's grousing and privately agreed with him.

There was no doubt within her mind that Emmett was her family. There was a certain bond and loyalty that came with being sired by the same Creator, a kinship that seemed to be born from having the same venom flowing through their immortal bodies. Carlisle had transformed their dying bodies with his venom, the same spark of creation divided into the bodies of each of the human he'd selected and saved from the edge of death – and that made Emmett and Esme and Edward each her family, undeniably so. But, for Emmett to be thought of as her brother? It was more absurd than she could have possibly imagined a thought could be. Almost as absurd as her ever wanting to be with someone who was not Emmett.

"…I always had sisters but Go – the Lor – Jes – _shit_. I've always had sisters, but _the powers that be_ need to strike me down here and now if I ever wanted to do any of the things to my sisters that I always wanna do with Rose…"

Rosalie ignored the twinge of sadness that came with hearing her husband struggle over calling on the God he still believed in but could no longer connect with. Instead, she determinedly focused on the thoughts that his half-appalled mumblings had inspired.

Unlike most of their coven, Rosalie had religiously kept track of her human life, of the family she'd left behind, tracking the progression of their human lives without her, as she'd become accustomed to what eternity meant and coped with the reality that she would truly outlive everyone she had ever known from her beforelife as a human.

She followed the story of her disappearance and had even become nervous when her disappearance had begun to spread from Rochester and became a talking point as far away as Philadelphia, where they had settled in her newborn years. She allowed herself to grieve for her true death as a human, despite her limitless immortal life, when her missing persons case had become lost in the tumult of her father's bank finally succumbing to the Great Depression and her family losing everything. She had given herself the time and space to mourn deeply when her father drank himself to death as he'd been unable to cope with their sudden destitution, and her mother took ill to her bed shortly thereafter, alone and broken as her two younger brothers got drafted into the Second World War. She still didn't have the words to explain her relief when Chester returned to Rochester and confirmed he had survived the dangers of a war-torn Europe, marrying the sweetheart that had been waiting for him and leaving for a quiet life on the Gulf Coast, almost immediately afterwards. Nor could she express the decades of grief she'd experience, thinking that Henry was dead – only to discover quite by accident that he had settled in Britain after the war, living a happy existence with an English wife and their children, in a very small village somewhere in England.

Rosalie was frequently tempted to make a trip down to the Gulf Coast to see what kind of person Chester had grown into. As often as she was tempted to discover just where Ottery St. Catchpole was in England and make the familiar trip to Britain, spending her time glimpsing the life that Henry had created for himself, a world and ocean away from where he'd been born. As far as she had been able to determine, both of her brothers were in their eighties and as healthy as could be expected, which was a curiosity in and of itself. Her indestructible, ethereal body was forever eighteen, never aging or growing past the point of adolescence where she'd been changed and impervious to any attempts to force change. Where her brothers had lived presumably full and active lives, aging as normal and was expected, Rosalie remained eighteen years old – and sometimes, she was tempted for the surreal experience it would be alone.

Of course, there was a certain pain that came along with watching everyone she had known and loved from her previously life succumb to time. But, Rosalie had learned to temper it with the distant fascination that came from being a witnessing to time marching on, and it became bearable. She had offered to do the same for Emmett – take the painstaking time to recall his memories and trace his life, piecing together the puzzle of what happened after he had died and helping him to understand how his family and friends had moved on and existed without him.

But, her husband had not been so gracious or at peace with what it would mean to discover what his beforelife had turned into without him and they had left it alone.

Rosalie hummed thoughtfully, as she stuck the tip of her finger into the skillet of oil she was preparing to fry strips of chicken breast in. The oil wasn't as hot as she needed it to be and she could spare a few minutes to appease her curiosity. Emmett was still talking to himself and snickering at his own jokes when she came into the bedroom, observing how swiftly he was installing the discreet security system they had decided upon. Once the wheels were in motion and they were in the thick of it all, the incubator wouldn't be making a single move without their knowledge and Emmett's newfound love of technology was going to ensure that. Emmett grinned happily upon noticing her lingering in the doorway but didn't stop his work.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright with our human masquerade?" Rosalie asked gently. "Humans can be quite perceptive most times and I wouldn't want our incubator pestering you right out of moving forward with this."

"Rosie, yer starting to bother me with all the questions about feelings, sweetheart," Emmett declared, serenely. "We've discussed all of this, backwards and forwards, and there's nothing more left to talk about. We're good, darlin' – so, stop thinking so much and let's just get this over with."

Rosalie huffed. "Indulge me, please, with a little bit of spousal communication."

"Unfortunate for you that I'm not yer husband, sister mine. Otherwise, I might feel obliged." Emmett returned with ease.

" _Emmett_ …"

Her husband sighed deeply, understanding the pitch of her whine to mean that she wouldn't relent until he cooperated. The profound huff that he gave was exactly like her own pouty gesture a moment before, a mimicry so perfect and intentional it could only be meant mockingly. But, his eyes were soft and open as he met her own marigold-yellow eyes, the gentle look affirming that what he was speaking were his sincere feelings.

"Rosie, I'll be straight with you – I don't like this particular masquerade. There is something that gets up under my skin about having to masquerade with no breaks, only stolen moments when the human isn't around because she lives with us….and it will be strange to have to pretend in our own home. Our only relief from the human masquerade is when we are at home and we don't even have that anymore. Not until this is over with. I do feel pretty uncomfortable about that – that I won't even be able to be myself, not even if you're the only one around, because we're in such proximity to the human."

Rosalie nodded in understanding, resonating with every word because it so perfectly expressed her own conflicted feelings about the path they'd chosen to as the journey to their desired goal.

"But, I've said it before and I'll say it again. There is nothing that I won't do to see this happen. Nothing." The smile that Emmett gave her was devoted, fevered, and full of worship as he abruptly closed the space between them and pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace. "If everything goes according to plan, this will only last two or three months at the very most and we've taken on masquerades that were far longer than that. We can be disciplined and focused on this for a couple of months and by the New Year – all of our dreams will have come true. That's worth any pain or discomfort or stress this is going to bring, without a doubt."

Rosalie lost herself in the fierceness of his embrace, basking in the strength and protection that came from being secure in his arms. "I feel the same, love. I truly do. We'll just have to make certain that we make the best of the moments we have when they come along, and we'll be alright."

"Agreed." Emmett breathed and within an instant, his mouth was upon hers. Rosalie was grateful for the strength of his hold as she went boneless with pleasure and pure love, losing herself completely the feel of her mouth connecting with his, all venom and heat and worship –

The peal of the doorbell was clear and undeniable and pulled them from the vortex of their kiss, instantly.

"She is here."

In all honesty, the moment was far more anticlimactic than the rising tension over the past few weeks would have suggested. Rosalie dashed to the kitchen in the blink of an eye, her last act of inhumanity, and found her skillet had heated to the perfect temperature for the few moments she and Emmett had spoken. Rosalie began to fry the strips of chicken and listened carefully to the first contact that was being made with their human incubator – the painstakingly, tenaciously chosen Marti, the human who was about to unknowingly sacrifice her life in pursuit of their dream of having a family.

Emmett opened the door after the second peal of the doorbell and Rosalie instantly heard the clear affirmation of their guest and her humanity - a solid if elevated heartbeat, pulsing healthy and strong, carrying across the space between the kitchen and the front door. Her throat constricted, as was usual when presented with a heartbeat she had never heard before, all of the instincts that made vampires the supreme predators of humanity roar to life. But the sheer thrill of their much-discussed plan proved to be the only deterrent Rosalie needed to quell the rebellious instincts.

Their human incubator had arrived and there would not be a moment of indiscipline or error from this moment forward until the completion of their task.

"Good morning. I'm looking for Lily Hale. I'm her new roommate, Marti Townsend."

"Oh, yeah, of course! You're a few minutes early, but no worries. Come in, come in." Emmett must have been deliberately expressing the highest octave of their Allure, the irresistible burst of pheromones that pulled humans to vampires like moths to an open flame, for Rosalie heard her heartbeat stutter quiet clearly, the steady beat increasing into a wild and frenetic rhythm. "I'm Lily's brother – Patrick Hale. Lily and I always have brunch after church and she's just finishing up in the kitchen – so, really, you're right on time."

Emmett had fallen into his human mask with effortless ease, her beloved husband disappearing completely under the carefully crafted persona of Patrick Hale – the doting, older brother of her own mask, the University of Rochester sophomore, Lily Hale. The success of the human masquerade being believed and accepted was to blend the truth with the fiction, creating a new identity out of the parts of themselves that already existed, careful and meticulous to never contradict themselves and hold onto the illusion of who humans genuinely believed they were.

Lily Hale was easy to pull from who she existed as now, Rosalie reflected as Emmett cheerfully led their human incubator into the kitchen, everything still somehow timed to perfection as she began to set the table with their brunch – spicy chicken and homemade waffles, with scrambled eggs, hash browns, fresh fruit, and coffee. She had followed the recipe she'd found online to the exact instructions, but the true test of what her efforts tasted like would lay with the human.

"Yo, sis – look who is finally here!" Emmett announced as he bowed slightly, beckoning the human into the kitchen. "This is your new roommate – Miss Marti Townsend."

If there had been any breath in her body, Rosalie would have lost it at the sight of the young woman who was to be their chosen incubator.

Marti was _perfect_.

Rosalie was fortunate that time passed differently for vampires than it did for humans, despite their coexistence on the same plane. For, in the split-second it took her to look up, she was able to drink in even the smallest detail of the human girl they had selected and anxiously awaited the arrival of.

Certainly, there was no comparison between herself and the human – she was only human and could never match the unholy beauty that Rosalie had been Gifted with upon coming into her immortal life. But, for only a human, it was undeniable that Marti was stunningly, hauntingly beautiful. Rosalie couldn't help but feel a rush of pride and happiness as she noted the human matched the checklist she and Emmett created, when it came to the quality their incubator must possess in order to be chosen.

Marti was a vision of gold and cream, with curls of molten gold tumbling down nearly to her elbows, adding a softness to the slender and willowy curves of her body and somehow balancing out her above-average height. She had the fairest skin Rosalie knew a human to have, a pale cream that perfectly went with the petal-green shade of her startling eyes. The delicate features of her face were as bewitching as Rosalie had been as a human herself, the same pert nose, dusty cupid's bow for a mouth, and a rather strong chin that somehow added to the charm of her beauty rather than disrupting it.

Their chosen human was as close of a comparison to the human that Rosalie would have been if she hadn't been stolen into the world of immortality and the smile that Rosalie offered the nervous young woman, as she opened her arms with good cheer, was quite genuine and meaningful.

Marti was _perfect_ – the perfect human vessel to offer the genetic material they desired, so that the dhampir child she would give birth to would appear to be as much of a blend of herself and her husband as was possible.

"Marti, hello – oh, gosh, I'm so happy you're finally here!" Rosalie said, warmly but with none of the exuberance that Emmett was offering. There was a careful balance that needed to be maintained here, so that their human didn't begin to accept the instincts that were surely warning her that all was not what it seemed. The hug she gave Marti was brief but welcoming, enough to be caring but not to seem insincere. "I apologize for not answering the door myself, but I was just finishing up here in the kitchen. Won't you join us for brunch?"

Marti smiled prettily and the laugh she gave was easy and comfortable. "Girl, if this tastes as good as it smells, I'd be more than happy to have a plate. You never mentioned you were a cook, in our emails…"

And, just that easily, everything fell into place.

Rosalie was amazed at how little had to be forced, as they shared brunch with their human incubator and their introductions turned into a surprisingly pleasant conversation. Marti was quite the chatterbox, explaining how she had come all the way from Galveston, Texas to attend college because the University of Rochester was the only school to offer her a full scholarship. She spoke with gratitude about how her family had worked incredibly hard to make it possible for her to travel so far for school and how nervous she was about coming so far, all by herself. She was understandably wistful as she spoke about her family – her single father who had raised her and her younger sisters by himself, with the help of his own father, her beloved Papa Chet, who was from New York himself but had moved to the Florida coast when he was young.

Rosalie was so thrilled with the ease and effortless unfolding of their first contact with their incubator, she hardly noticed the painful cramping of her stomach or the bitter, hollow taste of ashes that filled her mouth with every bite of food.

One of the cruelest curses of their immortal existence was how food and drink was utterly destroyed by the eternal presence of venom in their mouths. Where she had once lived for the most exquisite meals, the finest creations that a chef could create, where she had adored the wine cellar of her parents' home and indulged in the sweetest of juices and teas – nothing like that would ever bring her pleasure again and not even the masquerade of humanity could bring that back.

"You know, I believe this is going to work out better than I expected," Marti announced with a warm smile, blushing prettily when Emmett winked at her, his dimple standing out breathtakingly against the porcelain of his skin. She accepted another helping of eggs and a refill of coffee when Rosalie offered, serenely declaring: "I was nervous about coming so far away from home and by myself, no less. Daddy couldn't take off from work and Papa Chet stays with my sisters, while Daddy is at work – and, well, to make a long story short, this was definitely a leap of faith here. But, turns out that I didn't have anything to worry about! Y'all have really made me feel welcome and I'm glad that this worked out so well."

Rosalie met Emmett's eyes, seeing her own pleased astonishment reflected in their mirroring Midas-gold stare. They had been prepared to meet resistance and mistrust, practiced hours of careful manipulation and strategic engineering of this entire construct, as well as a frequently affirmed promise that there would be sacrifices needed to be made and sometimes, there would be nothing humane about this process. But, never had she imagined, not even at her most hopeful, that their incubator would come to them so open and so easily taken in.

Rosalie continued to reflect upon this seeming stroke of luck, as brunch began to dissolve and they were now discussing what Marti needed to have moved from the U-Haul truck out in the parking lot. She allowed Emmett to take the lead of this, his role as Patrick more important to the success than her presence as Lily. Marti kept sneaking glances at Emmett from across the table, her husband playing along to perfection and allowing the appearance of glancing at her without trying to, as well – and if Rosalie didn't know where this was leading, she was certain that she would have felt a deep strike of jealousy at watching her husband seducing a human before her very eyes.

As it was, all Rosalie could feel as Marti was settled into their apartment, swiftly and easily, was a deep resonance of gratitude for this young girl who would be integral to all their dreams coming true.

Emmett excused himself around nightfall. Rosalie didn't miss how Marti shivered and her pupils dilated noticeably when Emmett looked her deeply in the eyes and held his handshake a few seconds longer than usual. There was no mistaking the rush of blood underneath the human's peaches and cream complexion as Emmett smiled with a touch of heat and left their apartment, leaving Rosalie alone with the human. This apartment would be where they were holding the human under their watch, but their true home – the home that her family lived in before they'd lost everything, the home that she had always wanted to raise children in. Emmett had worked hard to purchase the historical home from the owners that it had belonged to by the 1970s and one of her greatest joys in returning to Rochester for this wild experiment was being able to live in her childhood home, once more.

As Rosalie was left alone with her new roommate, who was in her bedroom, humming to herself as she settled into bed for the night, she felt a fierce longing to have the ability to follow Emmett to their mansion. She belonged nowhere else than beside her husband in the home that she would have inherited if the world had been a fairer place. But, the longing had to be restrained and tamed, for the moment, an edict that she measured up to admirably.

There was important work that had to be done with their human, now that she had arrived. These first few nights were crucial to bringing their incubator to a place where she was able to follow the directives they needed to, and this was the part that only Rosalie could do. As the one who would be living with the human, without pause or interruption, Rosalie had to learn the human's routines, learn how to read her, understand her patterns, her habits, her movement. Emmett would be studying her through the surveillance system he had diligently set up in her bedroom, from his office in their mansion – but, Rosalie was the one who was here in person and whose interaction with their incubator mattered the most.

"Is there anything you need, love?" Rosalie asked in a honeyed, loving voice. She was fascinated at the human girl leaned towards her almost instinctively, her leaf green eyes widening fractionally as Rosalie concentrated on pulling her into the Allure. "I'm about to head to my bed and just wanted to make sure you're settled in alright."

Marti smiled, bashfully, continuing to braid her wealth of curls into a neat plait as she beckoned for Rosalie to come in her bedroom properly. "I'm wonderful, honey. I truly mean that. Lily, you and your brother are the nicest people I've met here so far, and I really feel welcomed."

Rosalie grinned but not for the reasons that Marti probably assumed. "Patrick and I are pretty far away from our own family, so we understand how important a friendly face is."

Marti perked up with happiness upon learning of another similarity between them. "You did mention that. Where are y'all from, again?"

"Hoquiam, Washington," Rosalie said, easily. "A little town on the coast, in southern Washington State. We came out here because Patrick wanted to study engineering – and, well, anywhere my big brother is, I can usually be found, too. We're simply inseparable!"

Marti made a cooing noise, completely enamored with the unbreakable bond between siblings, and just as Rosalie expected – she dove into another fond and loving anecdote about her family.

"I know the feeling, girl!" Marti enthused and nodded at the picture on her bedside. "My family is my whole world, too, and I miss them so much. But, this is going to be a wonderful new adventure, filled with amazing things, and I know they're happy to see me so happy."

"May I?" Rosalie reached for the photograph when Marti nodded encouragingly and studying the collection of people in the frame. "Is this your family – your grandfather, your dad, and your sisters?"

"Of course, the old guy is grandfather, Papa Chester. But, don't let his senior citizenship fool you – he fought in World War II, lived in England with his older brother for a few years, came back to the States and lived on the Air Force base down in Florida, and he is always doing something wild and adventurous. Daddy says he took it hard after Granna died and is always on the go, because to take it easy would give him too much time to think about how much he misses her. I guess Daddy would know. He hasn't been the same, either, since Mama passed away when she was having Aubrey…"

Rosalie stared without blinking at the photograph in her hands, but Marti didn't notice, chattering away happily about the family she loved and had moved so far away from. A wild thought had erupted within her, a leap that was likely to be so far outlandish that she would sound silly for even admitting her consideration for it. But, she couldn't help it. She knew who she was looking at in this photograph, despite the decades having brought him into this alien, elderly visage.

"Is this the same grandfather who was originally from New York? The one you were telling us about earlier?" Rosalie asked, casually. She forced herself to blink, trying to pull her features into something more curious than anxious.

"Yes, most definitely the same," Marti chattered, brightly. "Papa Chet was born here in Rochester – seriously, the only reason why I even considered this place, because Papa was born and raised here. He had a pretty hard life, as a kid, now that I think about it. It might the reason why he didn't want to stay."

"He looks like he's in his eighties. Did he grow up during the Great Depression?"

Marti nodded, sagely. Her beautiful, flowing blonde hair was plaited and pinned into an effortless braid that crowned her head and Rosalie suddenly looked at her chosen human with new eyes. Her pert nose may not have been a simple similarity, an unremarkable feature that strangers all over the world shared – but instead, Marti and her pert, charming nose with the light dusting of freckles could have been an inheritance.

"Oh, girl – you're good. Yes, Papa Chet is going to be eighty-five this December and he definitely grew up in the Great Depression. From what I understand, he was born into loads of money – you know, that old money, generational wealth coin that makes you rich just by being born. That was his family, as strange as it seems now. But, because the family's money was in banking, of course the Great Depression ruined that and that was the end of that. From what he says, his dad – my great-grandfather, Roosevelt or something like that – ended up drinking himself to death and his mama – my great-grandmother, Anthea – took sick to her bed because their family was going through so much, in addition to losing their banks to the Great Depression."

Rosalie had to sit the photograph down in her lap, folding her hands together to keep them from trembling. She couldn't quite believe what she was hearing, but there was no other explanation for this. There was too much that she knew and recognized from her own research and recordkeeping for this to be a wild and unconnected coincidence. She allowed the barest glimpse of emotion to shine through her practiced mask of Lily Hale and made a noise of sympathy.

"Oh, Marti – that's so tragic, honey," Rosalie elucidated, with the utmost sincerity.

The tragedy was in how emptily and distantly Marti could speak of her family history, the removal of several generations from the actual memories of what she was speaking of making her confession so unfeeling. To Marti, only nineteen and only knowing the time of economic depressions and world wars as events in a history book, this was a common piece of family knowledge that was interesting but of no immediate importance to her as someone who hadn't lived through what she was speaking of.

Rosalie tried to focus on her continued words, desperately not allowing her mind to dwell very long on the memories of her parents – Roosevelt and Anthea Hale, only gravestones and memories, an affirmation of what Marti was talking about as recent family history.

"Absolutely. There was so much drama happening that my great-grandparents sent Papa Chet and his brother, Uncle Harry – well, he's my great-uncle, but same difference – down to relatives in Florida and that's where they lived, until they both went off to fight in World War II." Marti shared, either unknowing of what the exact family drama was, which Rosalie knew to be her own disappearance, or unwilling to share something so intimate with someone, despite her free chatter about anything else.

"Oh, they both went to fight in World War II. That's pretty amazing. Although, it was probably expected and required, because of the draft." Rosalie pushed a little further, wanting to hear desperately about Henry – her brother Henry, who she had once thought was dead, because he'd started a new life in Europe after the war.

"They did both get drafted, but Papa Chet went to the Air Force, while Uncle Harry went into the Navy. Papa Chet was in Asia – what was it called, the Pacific Theatre, I think? But, Uncle Harry was in Europe, which is where he met his wife, who was a nurse in the war like he was a sailor. They got married and he stayed in England with her after the war. They've been married for over fifty years and for their fiftieth wedding anniversary, we went to freaking _England_ to celebrate, which was the first time we had ever gone to Uncle Harry, instead of him coming to visit us here in the States. I got to talk to him for a very long time and he was just so encouraging about me following my dream of being a ballerina in London…"

Rosalie had never been more thankful for the discipline that came from decades of masquerading as the human she no longer was. The practiced and habitual mask of humanity was the only thing that kept her from weeping under the surge of emotion that was flooding through her, listening to what she was cautiously hoping was true. This was an impossible and unexpected bonus, if this were genuine and not a truly random and unconnected coincidence. In all the hours of careful discussion, meticulous planning, and praying prayers that froze on their accursed tongues and were more like half-articulated pleas, Rosalie had never imagined that the human incubator that they had selected strategically would end up being perfect for an entirely different reason than her checklist of qualifications.

Rosalie never dreamed that a twist of fate would allow her great-niece – the granddaughter of her precious and mourned baby brother, sweet Chester, the great-granddaughter of her departed parents, Roosevelt and Anthea Hale – to be their incubator. She almost became light-headed with the possibility of her grandniece, her closest female relative, be the woman who would sacrifice her body and her bloodline so that Rosalie could have her own child.

She couldn't quite jump to conclusions, not without telling Emmett first and not without doing a fair amount of research to confirm that what this young woman was speaking of was indeed the impossible truth.

But, regardless, the warm glow of hope blossomed within her chest, replacing the unrelenting prickle of anxiety that had she had become accustomed to surrounding this whole process.

Rosalie smiled brilliantly at the photograph in her lap, tapping the edge of the frame thoughtfully and turning to look at Marti intensely. Without seeming to be aware of it, Marti gasped and leaned forward, her eyes going unfocused slightly as Rosalie felt the Allure surge from her in a wild, untamed rush and consume the girl, as open and comfortable as she was from their quiet chat.

"I think you have a really wonderful family. From what you've shared, I can see why you miss them as much as you do."

Marti nodded, with a devoted grin. "Like I said, my family is my world. I know I've been running my mouth like the chatterbox that I am, so I won't keep you, if you want to get to bed like you mentioned earlier." There was nothing but sincere affection in her petal-green gaze, as she added, "I have a feeling we're going to have plenty of time to talk, because I can see you and I becoming great friends, Lily."

Rosalie didn't have to fake the abrupt embrace she bestowed upon a startled but pleased Marti. She could feel the prickle of happy tears begin to sting her eyes, as she returned Marti's photograph and bid the young woman goodnight – her mind buzzing wildly as she closed Marti's door and dashed with inhuman speed back to her own bedroom. As soon as she picked up her phone, it began ringing –

Emmett couldn't speak fast enough.

"Holy shit, Rosalie. What did I just hear? I was only testing out the audio hook-up I did, I wanted to be sure the connection was clear, and the pair of you just happened to be talking – but, dear Go – dear heavens above! Did we just hear what I think we did?"

Rosalie allowed the phone to fall onto her bed, the hands-free option enabled as quickly as her fingers would move. She had destroyed plenty of phones during emotionally charged moments before, and this was one conversation she didn't need abruptly disconnected because she didn't realize her own strength.

"Oh, goodness. Emmett! I'm so glad you were listening! This way, I don't have to explain – but, yes. Yes, Emmett. I think we just heard what you think we heard."

Emmett crowed with raw and unrestrained astonishment. "I can't believe this! Rosie, that's your niece – well, your grandniece, but all the same. That little girl in there is your immediate kin and that's who we chose for our incubator."

Rosalie shushed him, listening intently for any sign that he'd been overhead, even though the phone. But, her hypersensitive hearing only picked up only Marti's heartbeat steadying out into something resembling that probably meant she'd fallen asleep.

"Well, we mustn't get carried away before we can prove this, Beloved." Rosalie said, her bell-like voice reasonable but her spirit electrified with the possibilities. "Your immediate priority is to start researching what she said, while I get more details from her as I help her unpack tomorrow. Every word she has said is the human understanding of the situation, but I want to be undeniably certain before accepting this as truth."

"Of course, I've already started and I'm going through your files right now – y'know, those diaries you keep about your family, to keep track of them? I know I didn't say so at the time, but you're brilliant for this record-keeping thing you have going on, babe. Absolutely brilliant for this!" Emmett's devotion poured through the phone as clearly as if he were standing beside her. "I believe what the girl said was the truth. It has to be, that's far too wild to be an unrelated coincidence – but, of course, I'll verify and prove it for you, Rosie. Anything you want, angel!"

As Emmett began to enthuse about fate and blessings they thought they could no longer receive, Rosalie allowed herself to come down to her knees, her indestructible body displaying an acute human weakness as she felt she couldn't stand another second. Her greatest fear about this entire attempt to create a dhampir child was that somewhere along the path, somewhere in the midst of the forbidden journey that she and her husband were embarking upon, everything would abruptly go wrong. She was certain that they would become deeply invested and far past the point of no return – before everything would derail, all of their dreams slipping from their fingers as abruptly as they had come into his grasp.

But this incorporeal possibility, this potentially miraculous occurrence had to be a good omen. A benevolent stroke of encouragement from whatever higher powers still acknowledged their wretched existence. If she dared, she would almost call it a blessing – but not even she was arrogant enough to think that what they were about to do with Marti, the young, beautiful, healthy human she was preparing to use as her incubator, was something that would be approved or encouraged by any deity with power enough to have an opinion.

Rosalie settled onto her bedroom floor, as her husband began to prattle on and begin the tedious task of cross-referencing her personal diaries with any information he could discover about Marti.

If their research proved to be correct, if this incorporeal possibility coalesced into an undeniable fact, Rosalie wouldn't dare call it a blessing – but, she was at the very least considering it a concession from the Universe that after all that had been stolen from her and Emmett, after everything they were forced to bear and live out for the rest of eternity.

If Rosalie were able to offer her human heritage to authentically blend with the vampire heritage that Emmett would offer…

The pedigree of their dhampir children – Julian, Fabian, Eleanor, Adelaide, Dorian – would be more perfect, more sacred, more immaculate than she ever dared to hope this impossible, forbidden desire would ever come to be.

* * *

( **Author's Note** : Oh, yes. A lot of very unfortunate things are starting to occur, and I can give you my word that the rabbit hole only deepens from here. Rosalie and Emmett have finally crossed the point of no return and now, they have to face what this means. I'm excited for the chapters I have coming for you all and how this tale continues to unfold!

I dropped a couple of Easter eggs from another beloved fandom of mine in this chapter, three in all, and I think they'll be appreciated by those who can find and understand where I pulled them from. I appreciate all the reviews and discussion and I look forward to hearing of what you think of this chapter.)


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